Like Monarch, Like Racer
by CandleHeadButt
Summary: Turbo is back at Litwak's! But he is not enjoying his stay in the confides of the Hero's Duty lock-up. The one-time champion racer feels the need to stretch his legs but in order to get out, he requires the help of a one time admirer, one that no longer wants anything to do with the man.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One- Rouse

"Thaffyta my sweeth…" cooed the soft tone of the candy monarch "A lilth sour ball told me that you were seen traverthin' with a certain GLITCH this morning…."

"W-we just happened to run into each other, that's all!" said Taffyta, her voice shaking a bit.

"Ah, yes. Things like that DO happen…." The monarch said, getting off of his throne and petting the little racer on the head "But what have I THOLD you about traversing with that…that GLITCH?"

Taffyta sighed gloomily "You've told me that it's BAAAD an' that if she runs the race, she might get us unplugged..."

"Right!" the king said, tugging at the girl's cheeks, perhaps a bit too hard for her liking "I'm doing this to protect you AND everyone in this kingdom! You know that!"

"I-I know King Candy…." Taffyta said, looking up at the monarch with wide eyes "But c'mon! Every game glitches once in a while and people don't seem to mind! Besides, it's not like Vanellope has it in on us!"

King Candy turned around, giving Taffyta a rather concerned look. He lowered his head, shaking it.

"I never wanted to tell you thith…." The king said, turning around and walking back to this throne.

"Huh? Tell me what?" Taffyta was interested now, running behind the ruler and tugging on his coat tails. The king took another look back at the little racer, his mood darkening a bit.

"Thaffyta, it…" he paused, shaking his head again as he put his hands out before him "No. No, I couldn't tell you this! You'd never be able to take it!"

Taffyta pouted as she looked up at her king, her chest puffing out "What do you take me for? Some cry baby?! Tell me what's wrong, King Candy!"

The king sighed again as he flopped down on his throne, rubbing his temples as if a headache were starting to brew up "Thaffy….there's another reason I don't want you to hang out with Vanellope…."

"And? Why? She's not dangerous!"

"No…." the king said "But she's…she's…."

"King Candy!" Taffyta said, unable to take the suspense any longer "What aren't you telling me?!"

"Vanellope wants to take your place!"

"W-what?" the racer stuttered, falling back a bit "What do you mean she wants to take MY place?"

"Thaffyta, you have to understand people like Vanellope….she's a user. She's only began hanging out with you in order to get herthelf on the roster and take your place."

Taffyta paled a bit, her eyes widen "W-wait! How in the world did you find this out?! An'-an' why would Vanellope want to do that to me?! Sh-she's-! We're…"

"Friends?" King Candy answered, peering down at the small girl.

Taffyta shook her head but as the news was broken to her, she felt a sense of weakness fall upon her. After hearing the news that Vanellope didn't view her as a friend, she just didn't know what to think.

Ever since being plugged in, Vanellope had been Taffyta's only real friend in the game. Of course, all the Candy Racers had a bond with each other, but the others seemed to treat Taffyta more like a boss. Sure they would laugh at her jokes and all have fun but for a lot of them, they felt as if there was an OBLIGATION to hang out with Taffyta, as if they felt she would become upset with them if they didn't.

Vanellope was different.

Vanellope was able to see past Taffyta's very forward and brash attitude and treat her like another friend. They would also bounce jokes off each other and snark a few here or there but in that sense, that's what made them true friends. Ever since Taffyta had found Vanellope on the outskirts of the track, the two had formed a bound. She didn't care if Vanellope glitched, she didn't care if she seemed to be an unused character.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was that they had become friends.

But was all of this even true?

Taffyta stood before King Candy, unsure what to think anymore. On one hand, the little racer thought that the monarch was just being overprotective and what ruler wouldn't? He only wanted the best for his people and his little racers.

But he had always been so hard on Vanellope and this new information was no different.

Taffyta swallowed back the lump that was forming in her throat as she once again looked up at King Candy, her eyebrows furrowing.

"King Candy!" the girl started "While I appreciate the fact that you're tryin' to keep us safe, I…I can't believe that Vanellope is trying to take my place! There are plenty of spots on the roster for EVERYONE so-!"

"Thaffyta Muttonfudge!" the king shouted, losing his temper "You know better than to doubt your king like this!"

The little racer almost fell down on her bottom at the sudden outburst! She had never seen King Candy so angry before!

"B-but King Candy!"

The man once again tried to calm himself down, rubbing his temples as he shut his eyes "I-I'm thorry, my lil thweet….its justh…when I heard her say those things about you. About all of you, I justh didn't know what to do. I mean, even if she's a glitch, she's thill a KID. How can I punith thumone who-"

The man stopped, shaking his head in anger "No. NO! She MUTH be thopped, before she winds up hurtin' any of you!"

"King Candy, NO!" Taffyta said "Can't I just talk to her? I mean, she'll listen to me!"

"I don't know if that'll be any good now…." King Candy said, looking down at Taffyta "She's already made her move."

"W-what MOVE?" Taffyta said, arching an eyebrow.

King Candy clicked his fingers, a few Oreo guards coming in carrying boxes of items in their arms. Taffyta was curious as to what the items were but as the box wa put down before her, her heart sank.

In the boxes were parts from karts and not just HER kart, but EVERYONE'S.

Wheels from Candlehead, breaks from Swizzle, engine parts from Rancis.

All of these parts were reported missing in the weeks past and now, they had suddenly turned up. Taffyta reached in, pulling out a break-pad from her kart.

"W-where did you-?"

"Where else?" King Candy said, a sad look on his face "She has a whole collection of these in her little hidden 'garage'."

The girl's thoughts were at a lost now; before her was proof. Proof that Vanellope had been using her and the rest of her friends to sneak into races.

"B-but she said….we were…..sh-she's my friend."

King Candy rose from his seat, walking over to Taffyta and putting his hand once again on the racer's head "Now do you see my dear? You called Vanellope your friend….but what friend uses others just to win medals?"

The little racer shook in rage, the shortbread cookie pedal breaking in her hands as she held them tight.

How dare she.

How DARE Vanellope use the other racers as a way to build parts for her own kart? If she wanted to make her own kart, she could have just asked but to steal from them and then lie?

She was no friend.

She was just a GLITCH!

Without saying another word, Taffyta stormed out of the castle, slamming the door behind her. All alone in the throne room, King Candy once again shook his head, walking over to the window of the huge room.

"Poor, poor children…." He said with a sigh "Friendship for them is tho fragile. It only takes one thing to break it apart."

The man watched as Taffyta hopped into her kart, blazing off at top speeds. Once the girl was out of sight, the once concerned look on his face began to curl into a devious smile.

"An' that's what makes things like this thooooo easy…" chuckling to himself.

"I wonder where she could be…." Vanellope said, balancing on a peppermint bridge in the far part of the forest "Taffyta is NEVER this late for a run!"

The loud hum of an approaching engine hit Vanellope's ears, the girl turning around to see a flash of pink coming over the horizon. She smiled, seeing Pink Lightening.

"TAFF!" the girl shouted, waving like mad "OVER HERE! OVER-!"

Pink Lightening keep a steady speed, cruising right towards Vanellope. When the raven-haired girl realized that Taffyta wasn't going to stop, she knew it would be best to jump out of the way.

"WHOA!" the girl cried, leaping off the bridge just as the kart struck it "Ya okay there, Taff! Had ya not stopped sooner, I think we'd both end up in traction!"

No reply. Taffyta just looked at Vanellope with cold eyes. The other girl looked around, a little worried that there was someone else around and Taffyta was shooting her glare at them.

"Er, somethin' wrong?"

"Yeah….there's somethin' WRONG." Taffyta growled, getting out of her kart and marching up towards Vanellope. The little racer felt a sense of worry growing in her as Taffyta approached, still scowling and looking all the more upset by the second.

"Hey there….ya lose a race or somethin'?"

"NO." the strawberry racer said in a harsh tone "But somethin' tell me ya wouldn't care if I DID, would you?"

"What are ya goin' on about, Taff?" Vanellope said "Ya know I love it when ya win! You're actin' as if I was placin' bets again ya or-"

"Oh, STUFF IT VANELLOPE!" Taffyta shouted "We all know what's goin' on here, so drop it!"

Vanellope blinked as she looked at Taffyta, obviously confused "Noooo, I don't know what's goin' on here! Care ta explain?"

Taffyta reached into her pocket and SHOVED a piece of Pink Lightening into Vanellope's chest, "Care to explain THIS?"

Vanellope looked at the part for a moment, unsure of what it was. She then licked it, taking in the sweet flavor.

"Hmmm, strawberry with a small hint of vanilla….it's part of your ride but…but why are giving it to me?"

"Because you're the one who took it from me!" Taffyta spat, her little hands balled into fist.

Vanellope jumped at the accusation, dropping the candy part to the ground "WHAT?! I took it?! Taffyta, that's….that's CRAZY!"

"Oh yeah?" the strawberry racer growled, going back to her kart and reaching in "Then what about all of THIS?!"

Taffyta then began tossing parts at Vanellope, the girl glitching in place as she attempted to dodge the flying objects.

"HEY HEY HEY! Watch where you aim, Taffyta! Ya could'a nailed me in the head!"

"Tell me THIS, Vanellope Von Schweetz…." the other racer said, her arms crossed and her head down "Do you consider me a FRIEND?"

Vanellope was taken aback; of course she saw Taffyta as a friend! Why wouldn't she?

"Of COURSE I do! Why wouldn't you think so?!"

"I don't like bein' lied too…." Taffyta said in a low, hurt tone "I don't like being lied to. I don't like being used…."

The girl looked up, still angry but her eyes filling with tears "An' I don't like it when my entire home is being used because of someone's greedy purpose!"

Vanellope began to back away a bit, an angry look on her face "W-wait….you seriously think I stole all of this stuff?! Who told you that?!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Taffyta shouted "I just want to know! Would you ever, EVER use me for your own gain?!"

"Taffyta, stop!"

"ANSWER ME!"

"NO!" Vanellope shouted "NO! I WOULDN'T! WHY WOULD A FRIEND DO THAT?!"

Taffyta shook a bit, "I-I don't know what to think anymore…."

"I don't even KNOW what you're thinkin'!" Vanellope said, putting a hand to her forehead "You just suddenly come outta nowhere an' start up all this crazy talk!"

Taffyta took a deep breath as she looked at Vanellope; she could tell from the girl's eyes that she WAS telling the truth but at the same time, she could not deny the words of her leader. He had done so much for the racers already so why would he lie? He had nothing to gain if he did.

So who was telling the truth?

Vanellope?

Or King Candy?

Taffyta wrung her hands together before looking back at her friend.

"Nelly?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, can I talk to you for a moment?"

* * *

"So what do you think 'bout Turbz comin' back?" Vanellope asked, putting on her racing goggles.

"What do I THINK?" asked Taffyta, a small smile appearing on her face "What do YOU think I think?! It's HORRIBLE!"

"Hmm, expected…." The president replied with a smirk "But I hafta admit, Taff. I did like tha lil greetin' ya gave him durin' that disaster of a party a while back! A FITTIN' welcome for his return!"

"Serious, Nelly. What did you think I was gonna do? Drop down on the ground and kiss his feet?"

"Okay, sorry I asked…." Vanellope said, turning on the ignition "I still don't know whether I find what happened to him funny, ironic…or just both!"

"What happened?"

"Yeah! Goin' through all that trouble just ta get back at us, only to wind up in jail!" the racer said with a grin "Make me wish tha guy ran into viruses fifteen years ago! Maybe it could have saved us all the trouble from the takeover!"

"Please tell me you're joking!" Taffyta said, a shocked look on her face "Really, Nelly! How can you take his return so lightly! I mean, the guy is BACK IN THE ARACDE and not too far away from us!"

"Ya act like Hero's Duty doesn't have him under lock an' key!" chortled the raven-haired racer "Even if he so much as DARES escape, Calhoun an' his boys will cook his butt faster than a deep-fried Twinkie!"

Taffyta could only WISH she had the same amount of confidence Vanellope had at the moment; it had only been a week since the entire showndown at the arcade and knowing the fact that Turbo and Sugar Rush were once again sharing the same space put Taffyta on edge. It wasn't as if the girl was completely terrified of the man, but instead it was the realization that another ghost from the past had returned and unlike the guilt that had once been held over her, this was something (or to put it better, SOMEONE) who she couldn't just will away.

Turbo was real. Turbo was back.

And who knew what he was planning within the depths of his prison cell.

Taffyta shook her head. She was over-thinking the entire thing! Perhaps Vanellope was right to face the situation with a sense of humor rather than just worry about it constantly. After all, she and the other racers were able to fend of Turbo in his enormous Candy Bug form, so what was stopping them from doing the same in his normal form?

Then again, in his normal form he was still able to take over the game.

For FIFTEEEN long years.

"Hey Taff?" Vanellope asked "You gonna be okay, right? I mean, we're not going to have another repeat of your lil gloomy spell are we?"

The strawberry racer let out a deep sigh, shaking her head "Sorry if I seem outta it, Nelly. It's just…"

"Hey, c'mon…" Vanellope cut in, placing a hand on Taffyta' shoulder "There's no need to worry about this junk! Let's just go back to what we do best okay? Or are ya scared that I might beat your butt this time?"

Taffyta smirked, reeving up her engines, "Von Schweetz, I would LOVE ta see ya try!"

"Last one to cross the finish line is Turbo!" Vanellope laughed, taking off in a cloud of sugar. Taffyta smirked as she followed, catching up with Vanellope a moment later.

* * *

"HEY! HEEEEEEEEEEEY!"

Mouse continued typing on her computer, ignoring the calling of the racer not too far from her.

"I know ya hear me, tho why don't ya answer?"

Silence.

"Hmm-hmmm-hmmmmm….Its tho NICE ta see tha diligent lil MOUSIE tinkerin' away at her computer…." Said the voice in a rather condescending tone "Make me wonder why thumone of YOUR intelligence is just another NPC."

Mouse's brows tightened in anger but she continued typing; she couldn't let the man break her concentration.

"What did tha programmers really want with ya? Just ta be thum thort of background fodder? Do ya have FUN just bein'tha person who gives tha players info they never really pay attention to? I mean, the only person they REALLY pay attention is is that Calhoun an' we all know that the's nowhere as good asth-!"

*CLICK CLICK*

Turbo froze once he saw the barrel of a rather large gun pointed towards his cell, the man's eyes widening in shock.

"This is a H.U.G or Hug Unlimited Gun, one of the MANY programmed special features in the game that one can find with a little tinkering around." Mouse said, her eyes still on her computer screen, the gun still pointed "This baby actually has the power to blast through that panel that's separating YOU….from ME."

Mouse then looked up, rage in her eyes.

"An' if you want to remain in one piece, TURBO, I would advise you that you keep your mouth shut!"

After a second or two, Turbo let out a snicker and that snicker soon grew into an uproarious laugh, the man laughing so hard that his knees buckled.

"O-oh! That's a good one kid! Threaten ME when ya know full an' well that if ya blow me ta smithereens, then any chance of ya guyths findin' out about those virusthes is out the window!"

"I wouldn't say that…." The woman replied in a cool tone "I'm sure there will be PLENTY of pieces left once I blast ya. And with that collective data, I can push that through a filter and get all the stuff we need without the worry of you keeping it from us!"

The woman smiled sweetly at Turbo, charging the gun "In fact, I don't see why I haven't tried this out NOW! It would save us so much time!"

"OKAY! OKAY! YOU MADE YOUR POINT!" Turbo said, walking back and sitting on his cot "Geeze, is everyone here GUN CRAZY?"

"I wouldn't call it that…." Mouse said, putting the gun down "We like to consider ourselves well-informed and well-armed!"

Turbo grumbled as he reclined on his cot, looking back at the woman who had once again returned to her research. What a pile of luck he was in; just when he thought he was going to be king of the arcade again, something had to happen to ruin it and in this case, the viruses had to turn on him.

Granted though, Turbo had turned on them FIRST but that was a minor formality.

Now instead of a lavish palace, he was rotting away in the prison cell of Hero's Duty and hating every minute of it. He had been promised that his holdings would be upgraded if he would release the information on where he had heard of the two viruses but Turbo wasn't going to let anything spill. If everyone at Litwak's were as smart as they played, they could figure it out themselves!

But of all the things that had been said to him, one thing stuck out the most.

And that was the fact that he was getting bored.

It was eating away at the man, knowing that a few stories above there were game characters bustling about in their jobs yet he was unable to do ANYTHING. On some days, he could have sworn he heard the sound of race cars speeding by and what made things even worse was hearing the voice of Vanellope when she came to visit Calhoun.

How he HATED that voice. Just hearing it made his blood boil and to hear it in such high spirits when he was being held prisoner.

It was just too much for the man to take and while he played cool on the outside, something inside was starting to wear away.

He needed to get out, but he had to figure out how.

If he even attempted to break out, guards would be on him in ten seconds flat and as he saw, these guys were no joke. This wasn't the eighties anymore; characters were bigger, tougher, and they didn't hold anything back. Even MOUSE, an NPC who was more or less designed for instructions had the abilities to beat the man to a pulp if she wanted to, with her hands and her GUNS!

No, a forceful escape wasn't going to get the man anywhere.

He needed to do something different.

Something more….deceitful.

Turbo closed his eyes, trying his best to clear his head to come up with an idea. He knew he couldn't count on his game or his friends considering they were long gone and the only other games he had any real ties to were Sugar Rush. Without his control on the citizens, who would come and help him though, especially when they made it clear that they resented the man for what he had done to them and made them do to Vanellope.

There was no way he could get their trust again.

Or could he?

He then thought of Taffyta, his 'favorite' little racer.

Ah, Taffyta Muttonfudge.

So forceful, so ambitious, so easy to mold.

Of all the racers, she was the easiest to get on his side once he had inserted himself into the game. All it took was a bit of the concerned father act, some scare tactics and BAM! Perfect little leader to round up the rest of his sugar soldiers.

Ah, how wonderful it would be to have her back on his side.

His side?

Turbo's eyes shot wide open; he knew that if he wanted to grasp the sweet touch of freedom once more, he had to act fast. The man sat up, walking over to the panel of his cell.

"Hey Mouse."

"It's Private Ornelaz." Mouse said coldly, not looking away from her computer.

"Private…." Turbo said in a low voice "I….I think I'm ready to talk."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two- New News is Bad News

"Guys, I need you to listen to me…." Taffyta in a grim voice "Somethin' is goin' on here…."

"What so ya mean, Taff?" asked a confused Minty.

"I….I had a talk with the king…." The strawberry racer said, her voice shaking "An' he told me somethin' that I know NONE of ya guys would like!"

"Well…" Gloyd pressed, moving closer "Don't hold back the details! Tell us, tell us!"

Taffyta hesitated for a moment, not sure whether or not to tell the gang the news she had been given. She looked at her teammates, all eyes going towards her and looking desperate for the news. The racer shook her head, moaning in anger before finally breaking down.

"I KNOW WHO'S BEEN STEALIN' OUR PARTS!"

Rancis jumped back a bit but a moment later, he began to laugh albeit nervously "Ehheh, Taff. Um, that's good to know but what's with the upset look? I mean, it's almost as if it one of US were the culprit…"

"That's because it IS, peanut-butter breath!" Taffyta hissed angrily. She then looked away, clutching her fist "Well, she's KINDA one of us…that….GLITCH!"

"Excuse me?" asked Snowanna, not sure she had heard Taffyta correctly "What GLITCH?"

"Vanellope…." The strawberry racer growled "She's tryin' to play sweet, but…but I have this gut feelin'…."

Taffyta DID have a gut feeling about what was going on but she wasn't telling the whole truth; the girl was confused. She just didn't know who to believe at this point. On one hand, part of her did believe in Vanellope's innocence. Why would her friend do something so HEINOUS for such selfish reason? But on the other hand, why would her king lie to her? She knew that King Candy loved everyone in the game, especially the racers!

The girl was being pulled just like her name-sake candy, her conscious jerked two ways but one side was winning over the other.

The side in which the king controlled.

Again, the girl hesitated to speak but she felt that she had to. She wanted to help her friends and for the first time in a long time, she felt that they were really listening to her.

Too bad it was for such bad news.

Adorabezzle shivered a bit, the little racer scared at the news "S-so, Vanellope was the one who took the spring to my breaks?" she stuttered "I-I could have crashed that day! You all saw that!"

"An' one of my candles!" cried Candlehead "I couldn't light my way through the cherries!"

"Speak for yourself, C-Butt!" growled Jubileena "At least your car could still run! One of my wheels was missing!"

An argument began to grow between the children as they all fought over who's vandalism was worse, Taffyta getting an all too close view of the anger that was caused by the incident. The girl was stunned, surprised to see everyone just so angry. She knew she had to stop it.

"Okay, okay! STOP IT EVERYONE!"

The gang stopped, looking at the strawberry girl. She crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her feet.

"Alright, I understand all your concern but is it really worth it trying to play who has it worse? We're ALL in danger her….but…."

The girl turned away, that other part of her conscious peeking through.

"Ya know what, I wanna check things out for myself before I do anything else!"

Rancis stepped forward "Huh, but we already know Vanellope did this! You said-!"

Taffyta held out a hand before the boy, stopping his chatter. She shook her head "Nuh-uh. I know what I said but…I think I might have said TOO much!"

"So, are you saying that Vanellope DIDN'T take our parts?!"

"There's just too much goin' on here right!" Taffyta turned, mumbling "And even though I know King Candy feels he's right….it's just too…it's just TOO EASY!"

The racer felt in her heart that something was wrong. As she said, it was just too easy. It was too easy because if something bad was happening in the game, of COURSE all the blame would befall Vanellope. She was an easy target!

A glitch that King Candy had banished from the game who wanted nothing more than to race? She would look guilty at the drop of a hat!

What about the other kids though? They could have easily done it just as well! And there were other characters in the game as well and what about the other games? Someone could have snuck in and played a dirty trick.

But the words that King Candy had said.

They played over and over in Taffyta's head. She couldn't get rid of them.

It made the girl feel sad that she was thinking against her king's orders but at the same time, she wanted to at least give Vanellope another chance. She knew the girl couldn't have been the culprit. She couldn't have!

Taffyta put her hat back on, pulling it down as she made her way back to her kart.

"Guys, I'll be right back!"

* * *

"Sugar rainbows , shootin' through the stars!" Taffyta sang, tuning the engine of the car "Take my hand, we're gonna go far!"

Taffyta didn't have a care in the world. The girl had gone through another great day at the drivers wheel and sealed her place in the race for the next day.

Perfect and pink; the way she liked it!

"Hmmm, need to check the syrup grade on this…." The girl thought to herself as she looked over her car "No wonder ya kinda slagged off there near the end!"

Taffyta walked to the shelf, reaching for her highest grade strawberry syrup but as she reached for it, she heard the ringing of her phone.

"Gah! Who's that at this hour?!" she said, dashing into her front room and grabbing the phone "Hello?"

"TAFFYTA?!" cried a startled voice on the other end.

"Er, yeah? Who else would this be?" the girl said with a slight chuckle "May I ask who THIS is? Ya sound HORRIBLE!"

"I-its ME!" chocked Vanellope, out of breath.

"Nelly? W-what's wrong, you sound horrible!"

"You're gonna FEEL horrible once ya see what's on channel six!" the girl cried on the other end.

"Channel…what are ya getting' on about, Nelly?"

"JUST TURN IT!" the girl screamed from the other end, nearly causing Taffyta to drop the phone on the ground.

"Okay, OKAY!" Taffyta ambled her way to the couch, turning on the channel to the all-arcade news.

"Good evening!" said the female anchor "We have breaking news from Hero's Duty!"

Hero's Duty, eh? Vanellope was RIGHT; this HAD to be big news! Taffyta didn't even know what the report was about but she was already on the edge of her seat, a little excited to hear what was going on.

"Today, former top racer Turbo has agreed to confess about his doing in the fifteen year long reign of Sugar Rush and how he was able to control the game during that time!"

Taffyta almost EXPLODED; after all this time TURBO wanted to TALK?!

"WHAT?!" the strawberry racer screamed, surprised she hadn't launched herself out the window "C-CONFESS?!"

"I KNOW RIGHT?!" Vanellope screamed from the other end of the phone "But it doesn't end there! Keep watchin'!"

"Tonight, Turbo agreed to a sit-down but only with a character of his choice, stating that he wanted to make sure he could talk to someone he could trust!" said the male anchor.

"Someone he can trust?! HAH!" cackled Taffyta "We couldn't trust him as far as we can THROW him!"

"We go live right now to Hero's Duty where Sargent Tamera Calhoun has a word for the press!"

Taffyta scooted so close to the tv that her eyes were almost planted on the screen "Aw man, are ya lookin' at this Nell? She looked more angry than a cookie monster who's been baked too long!"

"Five bucks says she punches out a camera in five minuets!"

"Vanellope, SHUSH!" Taffyta said, turning the volume up on her television. Her eyes still on focus, she watched the Sargent walk out to the press, a grim look on her face.

"Today at nine forty five, our prisoner Turbo requested that he speak with a character in which he would discuss his secretes of how he took over…" the woman said, though there was a slight hint of anger in her voice.

"Sargent! Sargent!" yelled a reporter from the crowd "Can you tell us when you'll begin talking to Turbo!?"

"ME?" the woman blustered in a surprised voice "The man has REFUSED to talk to me!"

The characters began to chat amongst themselves in surprise at the announcement; if Turbo wasn't going to speak with Calhoun, who WAS he going to talk to?

"If not you, then who?" asked a little imp, pushing her microphone a little too close for comfort to Calhoun's face "Don't you think the people in this arcade had a RIGHT to know who Turbo is going to talk to, especially when it concerns his near take over?! What are you hidin' from us, Sargent? WHAT?!"

Calhoun looked at the cameras glaring down at her; with the lights and the microphones pointed at her, she looked no different than a pixel deer caught in the headlights but her mood suddenly changed. She grabbed one of the reporters, and lifted him off the ground, growling.

"Get those things OUTTA MY GAME!"

"But Sargent-!"

The woman TOSSED the reported back into the crowed all before knocking over the podium with her boot.

Yup, right on time!

Calhoun stomped towards a reporter, the hapless character trying to back away as fast as they could while still filming the charging woman "I SAID MOVE! THIS NEEDS TO BE KEPT UNDER-!"

BOOM!

Calhoun punched the camera, the force so hard that it broke.

"Told ya…." Vanellope said on the other end of the phone.

"Er, well….that's is big news INDEED!" the female anchor said, not sure what to do next.

Taffyta hit the mute button, slinking down on the floor, the phone still to her ear.

"Wow…." She said in a low voice "WOW."

"I-I can't believe this is really happening!" Vanellope said on the other end, her voice shaking "Turbo is finally gonna come out and tell us…h-how he did it!"

Taffyta's eyebrows furrowed as she began to think about the revelation "But do you think he's telling the truth? I mean, this IS Turbo we're talkin' about! He had the chrome plated HELMET to lie to VIRUSES for cryin' out loud!"

"Taff, I would shave myself BALD before I trusted a WORD that came out of that guy's mouth!" Vanellope snorted "An' seriously? Who does he think he's foolin' with this?! He wants ta talk to someone he trust! PLEASE!"

"You're getting' that gut feelin' to, aren't ya?" Taffyta whispered, hearing a rather shaky tone in her friend's voice.

There was a bit of silence from both girls and after a moment, the strawberry racer heard her friend sighing heavily.

"Y-Yeah…." Vanellope sighed "I-I mean….I just…."

"Its that gut feeling. That gut feelin' that SOMETHIN' big is gonna come from this…." Taffyta began "W-we laugh about it NOW, Vanellope but…but Turbo knows more than we give him credit for!"

If only Taffyta were with Vanellope at that moment. If only she could have been there to see the girl gripping her pillow tighter, a bit of fear washing over her once she realized that her friend was correct. Even with everything back in place in Sugar Rush, Turbo knew more about the game and the RACERS than they felt comfortable with. For fifteen years he had played them all like puppets and for fifteen years he had controlled their movements, their thoughts, and in Vanellope's case, her position of power.

Everyone knew that if something were to happen, Turbo could waltz right back into the game and do it all over, but this time he knew what mistakes he had made.

This time, he would make CERTAIN that NO one would stop him.

That realization hit both girls like a ton of bricks and it scared them. Even if Turbo was still in Hero's Duty and he was willing to spill his guts, the fact that he was even being ALLOWED to talk sent a chill down their spines.

"So…." The strawberry racer asked from the other end "Do ya have a plan for this?"

"A plan?" Vanellope chuckled "No….I don't have a plan because I never thought something like this would EVER happen! I never thought he would come back! I never thought he would be locked up so close by!"

"But what do you want us to do?! I mean-!"

"This is what I want ya to do…." Vanellope replied, her voice getting rather strong "I don't want you guys to worry about ANYTHING."

"But Vanellope-!"

"No, I'm a-gonna tell ya WHY I don't want ya to worry…" the raven haired racer said, getting a little peeved this time "It's EXACTLY what he wants! He wants all this attention an' he wants US to shake in our shoes knowing he could spill stuff on us while he goes on his sob story!"

Taffyta nodded, realizing that Vanellope wasn't in the room a moment later "He wants to throw us off…"

"DEFINITELY!" her friend replied "An' I've told ya guys before, I'm TIRED of bein' scared! That guy already ruined so much for us long ago, we can't let him do it again!"

A spark of confidence began to form in Taffyta's heart. There was just something about the way Vanellope lead a charge that made her realize that she cared and that there was still a strong between the friends.

Something that Turbo would have a difficult time in breaking this time!

A smile formed on the strawberry racer's face as she balled her fist "Yeah! Tha lil yellow-toothed jerk can cry crocodile tears all he wants! There's no WAY he's gonna get one over on us again!"

"Right!" laughed Vanellope "But I still wanna tape his 'confession' if they air it live! Do ya know how much great riffin' fodder that would ma-!"

There was a loud beep from Taffyta's phone, the girl flinching a bit.

"Urgh, sorry, Nelly. Call waiting!"

"I'll hold!" Vanellope said "I want to keep talkin' about this! I mean, it's so unbelievable!"

The strawberry racer nodded, "Alright, be back in a sec!"

*Beep.*

"Helloooo?" Taffyta sang, her eyelashes fluttering.

"Taffyta Muttonfudge?" a deep voice said on the other end, catching the girl by surprise.

"Hello? Who is this? Did GLOYD give you this number?!"

"This is Private Kowalski from Hero's Duty!"

The racer nearly fell off of the couch once she realized who she was talking to!

"Er, yes sir!" she shouted, perhaps a bit too loudly "Is something wrong? Do you need me to gather the others to-?!"

"Hold it, hold it kiddo! There's no need for ya ta get all worked up! There's other business we need from ya!"

"Well?" Taffyta said as she began walking around the room "What is it?"

There was a bit of a pause, the racer hearing the muffled sound of the man talking to someone else in the background "We need your assistance."

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay….." the racer said, a might confused "But with WHAT?"

The man sighed heavily on the other end, "Sarge, you better tell her."

"Kowalski! AURGH!"

Taffyta knew that voice; Calhoun!

"Sorry, but ya know more about this than me!"

"Just gimmie the freakin'-!"

The racer heard a bit of a muffled sound as the phone was being handed over "Ms. Muttonfudge? It's Calhoun." The woman said in an exasperated voice.

"Hello, ma'am! I heard there was some business that required my assistance?"

"Yes….about that…." the woman growled "I'm sure ya saw that disaster of a news report right?"

"You mean where you punched the camera?" Taffyta joked "I have NO idea what you're talkin' about!"

"Hey, what could I do? The guy wasn't movin' away fast enough…" the sergeant replied "But with that, we DO have some new info from the conference and….and from Turbo."

Taffyta felt a bit of a chill going up her spine, "R-Really? And what does this have to do with ME?"

"Muttonfugde….He asked for YOU."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three- Hesitation

"Hey Taff, I was wonderin' where ya were!" Vanellope beamed brightly as the girl drove up.

Taffyta didn't say a word, her head hanging low and a gloomy look on her face.

"Hi, Nelly…." She said, hopping out of her kart.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Vanellope "Someone say somethin' 'bout your caterpillar brows again?"

"They are NOT-!" Taffyta growled but she blocked out the anger, taking a deep breath "Sorry…I…I'm just not having a good day."

Vanellope's eyes twinkled as she held a finger before Taffyta "Then I know the PERFECT solution for that!"

"And that would be!"

"ICE-CREAM SLEDIN'!" Vanellope jumped into the air, glitching.

Unable to hold back a giggle, Taffyta felt a bit of a smile forming on her face; she couldn't explain it but there was just something about Vanellope's energy that made her feel better, even when things were starting to look a tad bleak.

"Well…that DOES sound fun!"

"Heck yeah it does!" the raven haired raver said as she grabbed Taffyta's hand "I got the cookie sleds an' everythin'! Let's get goin' before all the good hills are taken!"

"Y-Yeah! L-last one there is a rotten egg!" Taffyta laughed as she took off.

Vanellope gasped, seeing that Taffyta had slipped away from her "Aw, nah! I'll pass ya yet, Muttonfudge!"

As the two girls left, they were unaware of two eyes watching them from the bushes. Once the girls were out of sight, the pair of eyes were only joined by a smile.

A devious smile.

A shadow crept from the bushes, moving with slick and smooth speed. It moved over to Pink Lightening, licking its chops as if the vehicle were a delicious piece of candy.

Of course, it WAS candy but eating it wasn't in the figure's mind.

No, something much worse was.

"Heheh, such a beautiful vehicle…." The figure cooed, rubbing its fingers on the shiny surface delicately "It would be a shame if something would happen to YOU….and your driver."

Back at Cookies n' Cream Hill, the two racers were having a good time sledding down the hill, all cares and anger forgotten.

At least for a while anyway.

"HEY TAFF!" Vanellope yelled as she continued to slide down the hill at top speeds "DIDN'T YA SAY YA WANTED TA TALK TA ME ABOUT SOMETHIN'?!"

"Er…." The strawberry racer looked down "W-WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT LATER!"

Before both girls knew it, it was night.

"Whew, that was fun!" Taffyta said "So, ya want me to take ya back home?"

Vanellope jolted a bit but she turned towards her friend, smiling wide "Nah! Wouldn't want ya ta waste fuel on me!"

Taffyta giggled, waving a hand "Vanellope, that's ridiculous! Ya shouldn't hafta walk home alone! It's no problem, just lemme-!"

"Meh, I can handle it!" Vanellope said "I've done it HUNDREDS of times before!"

"Yeah, an' I'm not havin' ya do it one hundred and one times!" Taffyta said in a haughty tone as she took Vanellope by her hand, pulling her towards the kart "I'm taking you home!"

The raven-haired racer pulled her hand away "NO!"

Taffyta turned, her eyes wide in shock. Vanellope gulped, realizing that she might have been a bit TOO loud.

"I mean…." She sighed "Taff, I can handle things by myself okay! Just go home so ya can rest up for the race tomorrow!"

"B-but….Nelly, I've been friend with you for so long but I've never seen your home. Can't I just do one favor for ya?"

Vanellope blushed horribly as she looked down at her feet, rubbing her arm. A wave of sadness began to wash over her but a smile formed on her face, her eyes brightening.

"Taff…can I tell ya somethin'?"

"S-sure! Tell me whatever you want!"

"I…I wanna thank ya for hangin' out with me….even if ya don't have to!"

Taffyta was stunned at the confession but at the same time, she was a little confused "Vanellope, y-you're my best friend! I would stick by ya, no matter what!"

"I know…" the raven-haired racer said, her face dropping a bit "An' as my friend, I just ask ya for one thing, okay?"

"Y-Yeah! What is it?"

"I….I'm not comfortable with people comin' over ta….ta my house. Just not yet."

Taffyta blinked; why was Vanellope so nervous all of a sudden? Didn't she trust her?

"Vanellope….is somethin' wrong?"

Vanellope looked over at Taffyta, a small but weak smile on her face "Taff, th-there's still a lotta things I hafta tell ya but….but I'm just scared! I'm scared ya won't like me if I told ya tha truth."

Taffyta's heart began to race. Was this the truth that King Candy had warned her about? Was he right in his accusations that Vanellope was stealing parts? Oh, how Taffyta hoped that it wasn't true but given the way Vanellope was acting, it was teetering close to that edge.

But then she remembered the promise that she had given the girl. Not a minuet ago, she had promised Vanellope that she would be her friend and considering how AWFUL Vanellope looked, there was no better time that Vanellope needed a friend than NOW. Without even thinking, Taffyta held Vanellope tight….

And pulled her into a hug.

Vanellope squeaked in surprised as she felt herself scooped into a hug.

"T-Taffyta?!"

"Just tell me…." The strawberry racer said, her voice cracking "Please, don't keep anything from me…"

Vanellope felt a lump forming in her throat but she was still too embarrassed to tell Taffyta the truth; the truth that she lived in Diet Cola Mountain. The truth that she lived in a hovel. The truth that she had to dig through Candy people's trash for things.

She couldn't let her know.

What would Taffyta think if she knew the truth?

"I-I can't!" the racer said, nearly to tears "I mean-! N-not yet!"

"Then when?!" asked Taffyta "Do you not trust me?! Am I not your friend!?"

"YOU ARE MY FRIEND!" Vanellope shouted "YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND AN' I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO IF I LOST YA!"

Silence fell on the area as the two girls looked at each other.

"H-How about this, Taff?" Vanellope squeaked "Tomorrow? After the roster race? I'll tell an' show ya everythin'…."

The strawberry racer nodded, her hands clasped together "Th-thanks great! A-at least we can finally stop hiding things from each other!"

"Yeah…." Vanellope mumbled "Right."

Taffyta shook in her boots as she began to leave "S-so, are you still sure you don't need-?"

"No…" the raven haired racer blurted "I can make it by myself."

Taffyta gave Vanellope a weak wave as she headed away from the hills, not taking her eyes off of Vanellope even as the racer disappeared from view.

"W-what is goin' on?" Taffyta asked herself.

"THAFFYTA!"

The racer squeaked in shock as she stopped, looking up at King Candy, the man looking none too pleased.

"What are ya doin out here tho late! Ya know you have a race ta run!"

"I'm sorry!" the girl said, bowing her head "I-I just was with-!"

She stopped; she knew if she told the king she was with Vanellope, she would never hear the end of it and worse! He might ban her from the race!

"I was…I was with Bezzie! She wanted to show me some of her new sledin' moves!"

The monarch sighed as he rubbed his temples before looking back at Taffyta, "Dear…I know ya wanna have fun but itth dangerous, especially with VANELLOPE glitchin' around!"

"Y-Yes, I know…"

King Candy smiled at his favorite little racer, putting his hand on her back and leading her away from the hills.

"Now, what was this about Adorabezzle teachin' ya new theldin' moves?"

* * *

"IS HE GONNA COME HERE?!" shivered Adorabezzle, Nougelstia holding her down.

"Sis, its okay! Stop shaking so much!"

"No, from what I heard, he wants her to talk with him in Hero's Duty!" Vanellope mumbled, much too angry at the moment to think straight.

"That's what he wants!" a figure said, walking up to the group.

"TAFFYTA!"

"But he ain't getting' it!" the racer said, an angry look on her face.

"What do ya mean, he's not getting' it?" asked Snowanna, raising her glasses up.

"I'm not doin' it!" Taffyta said angrily.

Vanellope was stunned, glitching out of her seat "What?!"

"I'm not playin' his games ANYMORE!" the strawberry racer said, shaking her head "He's not getting' THIS racer ta listen to his sob stories!"

"Good for you!" Sticky nodded "Somethin' tells me that guy has somethin' fishy planned anyway."

"Wow…I'm glad you're not goin' but….but I wonder…."Snowanna mumbled, a hand behind her head "How's ol' yellow-teeth gonna react ta this?"

"I told ya Nelly, I ain't goin' to talk to Turbo! I don't CARE how much he has to spill! If he wants to spill it, he can do it someone else!"

Vanellope nodded; she knew that if she were in the same position, she would probably be very hesitant as well. This was TURBO everyone was talking about! Even with the mistakes he had made, the man was still crafty enough to pull one over on anyone he talked to and with the Candy Racers involved, who knew what he had planned.

But there was something else to this that bothered Vanellope.

Why had Turbo wanted to talk all of a sudden and of all things, why the incident in Sugar Rush? Sure, he had taken over the racing game for fifteen years but he had done other things as well. Road Blasters, his absence before the takeover, this recruitment of the viruses.

Why only Sugar Rush?

And why Taffyta?

"He saw me as his favorite 'widdle' racer…." The strawberry racer growled "Or better yet, his favorite 'widdle' PAWN."

"Taff, don't beat yourself up over that. Its…its over…" Vanellope said.

"Nuh-uh, what happened we can't brush under the rug, Nelly! But….but even so, I still don't want to see him!"

"So….what now?" asked Swizzle "I mean, if Taffyta refuses, what's he gonna do?"

"He can ROT for all I care…." Taffyta said coldly.

"TAFF!"

"President Vanellope! President Vanellope!"

Vanellope turned around, seeing Sour Bill running up to her.

"Billy? What's wrong?"

"Th-there's-!" the candy ball stopped, holding out a hand so he could catch his breath "There's another news report on that you MAY want to see!"

The group of racers looked at each other as they then moved into the ice-cream parlor, a tv showing the broadcast.

"Breaking News from Hero's Duty! Turbo is setting his second plea for a chance to talk to Taffyta Muttonfudge about his crimes!"

Taffyta blushed horribly, hiding her face in her hands "Did they really hafta say my name?!"

"I don't know if Thaffyta can hear me…." The man began, the girl peeking from her hands "But if ya can, I want ya ta know….there is a reason why I wanted to talk ta ya first!"

"Pfft, yeah right!" Vanellope snorted, her arms crossed.

"For fifteen years, I pulled the wool over the eyes of EVERYONE in Sugar Rush. I did HORRIBLE things ta tha residence an' tha racers but…but my deepest regret is that I lied tho much to Thaffyta in order ta get things movin' my way."

"NO DUH YA CREEP!" the girl shouted, her face turning red "An' our reputation is no better thanks to it!"

"Taffyta, hush!" whispered Torvald.

"Tha reason I wanted ta talk ta ya was because I thought that out of everyone there….you'd be tha most understandin'! Tha most open! Tha most-!"

"SHUT IT OFF!" roared Vanellope, unable to take Turbo's lies "Urgh! That guy has a lot of nerve actin' as if HE'S the victim in all of this!"

"I know, right!" laughed Rancis.

"Ya were right about not goin' ta see him, Taff!" Vanellope said as she sat back in her chair "I wouldn't waste a precious moment of my life just to hear him spot out a buncha hot air!"

Taffyta said nothing. She only stood in the middle of the floor, her fist clenched and an angry look on grew face.

"Taffyta? Taffyta, what's wrong?"

The girl shot Vanellope a HORRID scowl, the raven haired racer almost falling off her seat.

"I think it would be best if I reconsidered…."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four- Trip

"THE RACERS ARE READY!" cheered the voice over the intercom "READY! SET! GO!"

And with a blast of multicolored smoke and sparkles, the candy racers took off! King Candy lead the pack for a moment but out off to his side came Taffyta, pink smoking blazing from her tail pipe. She looked back at her ruler, giving him a teasing smile.

"C'mon King! I thought ya were faster than that!" she giggled before hitting the gas harder.

The monarch gave the girl a powerful smile but once she was out of view, that smile changed.

VERY QUICKLY.

"Don't act so smart, ya lil brat!" the man hissed to himself, switching gears "Ya just got a lucky th-art, that's all!"

King Candy sped away, leaving the others in the dust as he began catching up with Taffyta. In the crowd, the candy people were going WILD! The race was getting faster and faster, more dangerous, more risky!

"MORE ACTION!" said a cheerful voice, her hood pulled over her face "GO TAFFYTA!"

Taffyta was rounding her way through Brownie Junction, a rather nice place to stop, this is if you don't mind the massive brownie batter landslides and chocolate lava pits!

"Heh, easy!" Taffyta said, licking her chops. She spied a power-up ahead, the thing just calling for her. She stepped on the gas again, running right into it.

*WHIP IT GOOD!*

"Just what the doctor called for!" Taffyta cackled, aiming her gun forward. Just as she did, a huge chocolate geyser erupted but the kid knew what to do. Aiming high, she shoot a large spray of cream in the mouth of the geyser which succeeded in plugging it up and cooling it down! Just to be cheeky, Taffyta stuck a finger out and got a dollop of the cream, putting it in her mouth.

"Mmmm! Sweet!"

Back with the crowd, Taffyta's team cheered loudly, Vanellope unable to hold back her excitement as she glitched here and there! Thank goodness no one really cared enough about her to pay attention.

"YEAH! YOU SHOW 'EM! GO! GO! GO!"

Taffyta was in the lead but King Candy was catching up fast. The monarch scowled, his blood boiling that he couldn't catch up with a child.

"That's it!" he growled to himself "Now we're playing things MY way!"

The monarch checked behind himself to make sure that no one was following and as the two entered a cookie cave, he made his move!

He dug into his pockets and pulled out one of his many stolen power ups!

"While I do find your driving skillths IMPRESSIVE, ya have another lesson ta learn my dear Thaffyta!"

He made his choice; now it was time to throw.

"YOUR KING IS ALWAYS NUMBER ONE!"

King Candy hurled the power up in front of him but made sure as not to make it seem like he had tossed it from behind the racer. Taffyta was much too focused on getting out of the cave to notice the thing as it suddenly activated on a crag above her.

*CARAMEL CRISP!*

The racer looked up and gasped at the bright light, looking up just in time to see that the entire roof of the cave was now being covered with hard caramel brittle, the spiky stuff becoming too heavy for the roof to hold!

"Oh no! Just when things were running so smoothly!"

Taffyta began to dodge like mad to outrun the falling caramel spikes and cookie crumbs but as she did, she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her car under control. The crowd outside could only watch in horror as they saw the racer swerving. Vanellope gasped, glitching in fear.

"Aw man, what's goin' on?!"

The strawberry racer screamed but as she looked ahead, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel, the GOOD kind!

"Oh thank GOODNESS!" the girl said, punching the gas as she hit a hard right. If she timed this right, she would be able to do a perfect spin to recalibrate herself once she got out of the cave and regain her lead!

It was all a matter of timing! That's all.

"Three, two, ONE!"

Taffyta hit the gas as hard as she could, her little feet almost going RIGHT through the floor but she made the perfect slide, just as a sharp piece of caramel almost hit her in the face.

"WHEEEEEEW!"

Now it was time to realign herself! The finish line was so close! SO CLOSE!

CLUNK!

Taffyta screamed as she heard and felt something give way under her car! All of sudden, she found she had no control at all!

"H-HEY! WHAT-!?"

The racer gripped the wheel as best she could but at her speed, there was no way to regain control! She was heading right towards the stands!

"GET OUTTA THA WAY! GET OUTTA THA WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"T-Taffyta?" Vanellope choked, her eyes wide as dinner plates as the car was coming right for her.

Taffyta was spinning like a top, the only thing holding her in her car at this point being her seat belt. She continued to scream, wanting nothing more than to regain control but she just couldn't! Hot sparks spilled from the bottom of her vehicle as the engine began to smoke! She crashed through the first guardrail, candy people fleeing for their lives and then….

She looked.

Vanellope was five feet in front of her, frozen in place and stunned beyond belief.

Taffyta could feel her heart stop as time seemed to slow down.

"MOVE! PLEASE MOVE!"

GLITCH!

In that split second, Vanellope managed to half glitch half jump out of the way in time out of panic, the car FINALLY hitting the crowd stands and EXPLODING in a massive eruption of pink and black smoke! Car parts rained down from the sky as did several candy people but through it all, a small raven haired racer sat by, having been knocked down by the shock. Her eyes could not come unglued from the crash, she was just too horrified.

"TAFFYTA! TAFFYTA!"

"KING CANDY WINS!" yelled the announcer, the crowd going wild as the monarch crossed the finish line, but Vanellope didn't care about him.

She just wanted to see if Taffyta was okay.

A mass of candy people began to approach the still smoking car but Vanellope pushed her way through, glitching horribly "M-M-Move! G-G-get outta the w-w-way!"

She coughed as the smoke got into her eyes and nose but she had to see if Taffyta was alright!

"Taffyta! TAFFYTA ANSWER ME PLEASE!"

A moan. A horrible, horrible moan.

Vanellope gasped as she glitched again, pushing her way through only to see Taffyta, slumped over the seat with her face on the steering wheel.

"Oh my gobs-!"

The strawberry racer moaned as she looked up, seeing the blurry image of Vanellope before her. She smiled but her friend could tell she was weakening fast.

"S-sorry I didn't win….."

And with that, the racer finally passed out. Vanellope gasped as she turned around, frantic for help.

"HELP! HELP! WE NEED A DOCTOR!"

* * *

"We need a plan…." said Mouse, her arms crossed "I have a feelin' SOMETHIN' is gonna happen while this fool tries to tell his 'story' and I want to make sure we're ready for it."

"Ya mean our guns aren't enough?" Markowski snickered, charging up his blaster.

"You laugh now, but you gotta remember, big fella! This Turbo guy? He's a sneak bas-!"

"ATTENTION!" yelled Calhoun, the two privates standing at attention "While I'm glad to see that you two are taking into caution how much of a rat Turbo is, you have to remember NOT to let him know we're suspicious of him. I don't want him to have the gratification of knowing that he's playing us."

"Huh, you think you're the only one?" chuckled Mouse "By now that the entire arcade is buzzing about this confession thing of his, what can we do?"

"We'll let him confess…." The sergeant said, walking past the two "And right now, the person we need is right here."

"Who?" Markowski asked, looking around.

"Down here, sir…." A small voice rang. The big man looked down, seeing Taffyta Muttonfudge standing below him.

"Her?!"

"He said he wanted me…" the racer said in a haughty tone "Then he's gonna get me."

"Just be careful solider…" Calhoun glanced back "I don't want anyone else getting' hurt."

Taffyta looked around nervously, the coldness of the game starting to get to her already "Erf, you're not gonna leave me alone back there with him, are ya?"

Calhoun shook her head "Not a chance….we'll be close by but out of sight from Turbo. The guy is might pull the silent treatment if I'M around but…." The woman suddenly stopped, stooping down to Taffyta's height "If he tries anything…" she whispered "You are free to shoot him in the face!"

Calhoun then handed Taffyta a gun; a LARGE gun.

Taffyta struggled to lift the thing up, smiling nervously "Er, maybe YOU should keep this!"

The two made their way down to the prison halls, each and every cell empty….

Save for one.

At the end of the hall was a gray racer, a mop of messy black hair sitting atop his head. His back was turned from the others, his face deep in a car magazine.

"Oh yeah…" the man snickered "Sleek AN' functional! Justh tha way I like 'em! Woo bay-BEE!"

"AHEM!"

Turbo didn't even flinch. He craned his neck back, a rather bored look on his face as he looked both Calhoun and Taffyta up and down.

"You're LATE."

"Sorry, I didn't know that you had put everything on a SCHEDULE." Calhoun snorted.

"Hmph. What do ya take me for?" the former racer glared "Thum thort of thlob?"

"Look, I wanna spare the kid as much torture as possible, so get ta talkin' an' get it over with QUICK!" roared the woman, her nerves already on edge because of Turbo.

The racer turned as he sat up in bed, smiling at Taffyta evil "Thaffytha….its tho nice ta see ya! Its been THOOO long!"

Taffyta glared, biting down hard on her lollipop and breaking it with a sharp *SNAP!*.

"Its nice ta see ya too…" she finally said, her tone sweet but fake "Especially BEHIND BARS! I think it SUITS you!"

"Oh ho ho ho, getting' off ta a NICE thart, are we?" Turbo chortled, wagging his left eyebrow "Great! I was gettin' lonely down here with all these LOTHERS…."

"Okay, Calhoun. Ya can go now…." The racer growled. Calhoun nodded as she walked away though when she rounded the corner, she stopped. She had made a promise to the kid that she wasn't going to leave her alone and that was something she planned on keeping. Calhoun made sure her form was unnoticeable from Turbo but she remained close enough that she could hear, and record, every bit of dialog that came from his mouth.

Taffyta moved closer to the bars, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the sneering prisoner "Ya wanted to talk….so SPILL IT!"

"Instead of goin' inta tha doom an' gloom, why don't we talk about YA instead?" chuckled Turbo "How have tha rathes been goin'? Hope ya keep beatin' tha GLITCH. She can't run circles around ya-!"

Taffya growled; as she expected, Turbo had begun to insult Vanellope already, taking full of advantage of the racer's past in attempt to weaken her. The man let out a little laugh as he continued his little trip down memory lane.

"Ah, I remember those days! Back when things were THO much thimpler, tho much more FUN! It was just ya, me, tha rest of tha kiddies an' NO worries 'bout tha GLITCH. Heh, ta hear that word come from you mouth, knowin' that ya knew her place in the game, it always made me tho happy!"

"CUT THE CANDY CORN!" Taffyta snapped Taffyta "I know tha angle you're tryin' ta play here and it won't WORK!"

"Ya dooooo?" Turbo cooed evilly, his lips curling into a sneer "Darlin', I'm thust tellin' ya tha truth from tha past, that's all!"

The grey racer suddenly sprang up, moving so close to Taffyta that she nearly feel over, his glowing eyes going right into her very soul.

"You've been THLACKIN' Muttonfudge! I can tell! I can tell since tha GLITCH got back into power, ya an' the rest of those widdle kiddie racers have been pushin' down your talent ta let HEEEEER take the glory!" he turned though his eyes remained planted on Taffyta, glowing a sickly yellow color "Thell me, have people gotten on your case when YOU'VE come in first place? Have they insulted your skills when ya beat that GLITCH? Heh, I bet they do. That's why ya hold back; ya hold back because ya don't wanna see her or her lil fans cry because they got behind such an arrogant, INFERIOR racer!"

Taffyta took a step forward, though she did so with caution. She knew that Turbo was trying to get to her and she knew better than to follow his lies. Nonetheless, the way he spat out those words still hurt. It hurt because he was insulting her, it hurt because he was insulting Vanellope, it hurt because he was insulting ALL the racers in Sugar Rush.

And he seemed to relish in every moment of it, as if it were some sort of sweet dessert to him.

"I thould have known though…." The prisoner said sadly, shaking his head "The people of this arcade? They're so fake. They love to latch themselves onto someone who they THINK has all the glory while tossin' those who have the real talent aside!"

He looked at Taffyta, the girl glaring daggers at him.

"People like ya…They've become blind an' all because they felt pity for a poor widdle glitch. Someone who has no right ta even BE in YOUR game an' win YOUR races!"

The man was digging too deep now and seeing the look of anger forming on Taffyta face was exactly what he wanted. Calhoun peeked from behind the corner, clenching her teeth as she heard every word and saw the racer's reactions.

"C'mon kid, don't let him lead ya like this!"

At the moment, Taffyta wanted nothing more than to break through the bars and pound Turbo with a rather large candy mallet but if she did, she would only prevent herself and the others from learning the truth.

She had to remain calm and not just for herself, but for Vanellope and the others as well. She promised them that she would attempt to get as much info as she could out of the disgraced racer so she couldn't break down now. Not when things were just getting started. Her eyes met with Turbo once more, the man's gaze going into her like blades of glass but she had to be the stronger, she couldn't give in to his games. She took a deep breath and began to think of how things were now, how much better everyone was now that they were free.

Yes, there were no more lies, no more anger, no more bullying.

No more Turbo.

He was a little man; someone who tried to make himself out to be bigger and tougher than he really was. Taffyta wasn't going to allow herself to be controlled by him. Not anymore! A smile began to spread on her face as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"You say such….LOVELY things, ya know that Turbz…" she began "You talk about how everyone here hates us now because of Vanellope's return to the throne, how we all have to hold ourselves back just to accommodate her. But lemme tell ya somethin' TURBO, you've missed a lot."

"Oh? An' what EXACTHLY did I miss?"

The girl let out a small chuckle "True, our reputation was soiled once the truth got out about our actions under YOUR rule but a small incident changed that. Those viruses ya brought in a few weeks back? They weren't the first ones to attack this arcade…."

Turbo arched an eyebrow; he had heard of the first attack. In fact, it was that attack that had inspired him to seek out Mal and Tor in the first place. Granted, had he known how things were to turn out in the end, he would have thought a bit longer on how to ensure HE would remain on top instead of ending up in jail.

"A virus came to our game. It came to our game with the intention of wipin' ALL of us out and for a while, it looked like that goal was going to be accomplished. I mean, it had kidnapped Vanellope and done a rather good job in convincing ALL of us that it was her for a while! But it didn't succeed….it didn't because in the end, Vanellope and I worked TOGETHER to beat that thing and save not only Sugar Rush but possibly the entire arcade!"

Taffyta stopped, a lump forming in her throat as she remembered those terrible moments "And in that moment, people got a taste of what we were really like, that we weren't just PAWNS loyal to your lies! No, after that, everyone finally saw that the images that YOU had made us out to be were lies."

"What are ya tryin' ta say kid?" Turbo mumbled, his temper rising a bit.

"What I'm sayin' is that your hold and influences on this arcade aren't as strong as ya think they are…Your influences on ME….they don't work anymore. You can rant and rave all you want about how Vanellope is a glitch and how her skills are nothing but I know their lies. They have ALWAYS been lies!"

The girl held back tears but it felt good to have her say with Turbo, enjoying the moments of cutting the man down several pegs.

"They're lies because even after your attempt to break us up, we've all gotten back together and even before that! Even before your take over? There was a small time….a small time when we all knew that our friendship was REAL and it wasn't tainted by YOU!"

The gray racer just looked at Taffyta, blinking twice before he started clapping much to the girl's confusion.

"Wow….just…WOW!" the man laughed "For a kid, ya really know your way around speeches!"

"I'm NOT just a kid…." Taffyta said in a cold tone.

"Riiiight, 'course you're not…" Turbo said, shaking his head "But I find it interestin' ya brought that up."

"Brought WHAT up?"

"That time before I came into your game? Heh, I'm ashamed to admit that I don't remember MUCH of how ya guys behaved with each other BEFORE I showed up, considerin' that I had OTHER things on my mind…" the man sneered "But I know that only thing ya wanna know is how I did it, right?"

"Why else would I come here?!" yelled Taffyta.

"It pains ya doesn't it? Not knowin' that truth?" Turbo began "Ya act so brave now but I can thell that it HURTS. It hurts knowin' that someone as thimple as ME could come into your game an' take it over for FIFTEEN YEARS. It hurts knowing that NONE of those memories of what ya did to tha GLITCH, I mean, VANELLOPE, will NEVER go away."

Taffyta balled her little fist as she continued to give Turbo a cold glare "So, are you gonna start talkin', or are ya just gonna continue to dance around the subject? I mean, its up to you if you're too SCARED to tell the truth."

The man then shut his eyes, walking back to his cot before he leaned on it.

"Scared….." he sighed "Yeah, I think that's a good way of puttin' it."

Taffyta twitched a bit, gripping the bars to the man's prison "Scared? What are ya talkin' about?"

Turbo tilted his head a bit, running his fingers through his hair "Thaffyta, there is no guarantee that a game could work in the mornin'….it might be fine one day an' BOOM! Gone tha next. Back then….I was scared."

"Of WHAT, exactly?"

"Heh, bein' forgotten I guess…." Turbo snickered though Taffyta could hear the tone in his voice breaking a bit, almost as if the man was having trouble gathering his words "I know….I know what I did was wrong an' I wouldn't be surprised if NO ONE forgave me for my actions but…."

"But what?"

Silence.

For a few moments, the man said nothing, gripping the blankets on his cot tightly in his hands.

"Let's say my determination to take over Sugar Rush was driven by blind fear. A blind fear that I would be forgotten, that I would NEVER be able to race again….and by…."

"None of that excuses what ya did to us!" Taffyta bellowed, her face turning red in anger "You took over our home, tried to DELETE my friend and you…you used my mind to turn against her! You had us under your control!"

"AND DON'T YA THINK I FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT?!" the man roared, turning back towards the racer. Taffyta jumped back a bit, shocked that Turbo would explode on her in such a way. The man glared at the girl, his yellow eyes beaming.

"I know what everyone thinks! Do ya think I'm THAT THUPID?! I hear the words all tha time! I only took control of the game because of greed! Because of my ego! M-Maybe….maybe that was it at first but-!"

"But?"

"But once I was in, once I felt that you guys were my family….I…I just couldn't let go."

Family?

Taffyta's eyes widened, a shiver going down her spine; she had never thought of it that way but as the memories came flooding back, perhaps…perhaps there was something to Turbo's behavior that had never seen before.

"Thell me, Thaffy. Durin' my rule, did I ever mistreat you? Did I?"

Taffyta shook her head about wildly, "N-No! You can't use that on me! You might have acted sweet to us, but it was just to blanket the truth!"

"Was it now, dear?"

"What about Vanellope! You-!"

"I know…." Turbo looked down at his feet "I know what I did to Vanellope was wrong, but I was scared! I knew that if she learned tha truth, if ANY of ya learned tha truth, you'd never understand!"

"We'd never understand WHAT?!"

"Despite what happened, ya guys will NEVER understand what it feels like to have your home unplugged an' taken away! If that truth got out, your PRINCESS would have had me thrown out! She would NEVER listen because she would never understand! She never COULD!"

"You're expectin' me ta believe that Vanellope, a girl who lived fifteen years of her life in a mountain, wouldn't understand what it was like being without a home?!" the girl growled "What kinda of a fool do ya take me as?!"

Turbo looked up, a look of anger on his face "Ya can try ta compare us all ya want but no! She wouldn't understand an' ya know why?! At tha end of the day, she gets to live the high life in her widdle palace, people waitin' on her hand an' foot! The arcade treats her like a GODDESS that can never do wrong an' who is always right! She can go home knowin' that a kid will play her game an' she will be loved above all! She has friends, she has a family! But me….even if things turned out differently, I would have had NONE of that."

The glowing in Turbo's eyes began to fade, as if all the energy were being sapped from the man.

"The twins? They left back before you were even PROGRAMMED, an' tha same goes for everyone else in my game. I was tha only one left…an' no one CARED."

Taffyta hunched her shoulders as she continued to listen; there was just something to Turbo's story that didn't sit right with her but at the same time, the way he was acting…this was so unlike him. Before, it was rather clear that the man was trying to push every button Taffyta had but now it was as if he were DESPERATE for anyone to hear him out.

Could it be that Turbo was telling the truth?

Even so, that still didn't make the man innocent in the racer's mind but his words still bothered her.

What if things HAD turned out differently? Could the entire take over had been prevented?

Maybe if someone had noticed him, maybe if SUGAR RUSH had noticed him.

No, this didn't make sense! Turbo's want for attention didn't give him the right to ruin so many people's lives and yet there he was, trying to convince the girl otherwise.

"Ya wanna know why I asked ya ta come?" the man said "Because I knew that of all tha racers….you'd be the most willin' ta listen."

"R-right…" Taffyta mumbled, folding her arms against her chest.

"I'm tellin' that truth…The other racers? They're all good kids but ya…ya reminded me of myself."

That was something that Taffyta didn't want to or even NEED to hear. She was just like Turbo?

That meant that she was a terrible person….and she already knew how it felt to be accused of that.

"Ya remind me of myself because ya would do anythin', even when things were put against ya."

"Stop it…."

"Ya would thand UP against someone who was tryin' ta put ya down."

"I SAID stop it."

"Ya would thand up against a TYRANT who was usin' a cover ta get their own gain!"

"SHUT UP!"

"YA WOULD DO ANYTHIN' TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE WERE HAPPY, EVEN IF SOMEONE ELSE WAS LYING!"

"TURBO, SHUT UP!"

Taffyta voice rang throughout the prison, the girl huffing in anger as she glared at Turbo. Down the hall, Calhoun could not believe what she had been listening to. Turbo was trying his all to play the girl like a fiddle and somehow, Taffyta remained strong.

But it was becoming apparent that things were starting to break. Taffyta just couldn't handle some of the things that Turbo was telling her.

"Ya thay ya know Vanellope well. Ya thay that before I took over, you guys were an' had always been friends…."

Taffyta cleared her throat, pushing the brim of her cap up "YES. Yes we were…."

"That's not what was happenin'…." The man said as he sat on his cot, his head hanging "I know things Thaffyta. I know things that would hurt the very core of your code if I told ya. Things that Vanellope would do anything ta shut me up for sayin'…."

"I-I told you before! It doesn't matter how much ya try ta spin that truth, Vanellope has an' always was a character in our game an' never a glitch!"

"No…no she wasn't a glitch…." Turbo whispered "She was much more dangerous."

Turbo raised his head, a pained look in his eyes as he gazed at Taffyta.

"I know two wrongs don't make a right. I had no right takin' over Sugar Rush for so long but once I realized what I was doin' I tried ta make it up by bein' a monarch that Vanellope WASN'T. I wanted ta be someone who ruled an' loved you guys for who ya were, NOT just to play face."

Taffyta shook a bit "W-what are ya-?"

"After bein' in Sugar Rush for so long, I HAD to continue on with the façade but not for ME…" the former racer said in a grim voice "It was because I learned that ya guys were livin' a lie an' it hurt me to know the truth AN' ta keep it from ya."

"A lie?" Taffyta asked, leaning closer to the bars "W-what kind of lie?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five- Get Well Soon

Taffyta woke up with a start, looking up at the bright blue ceiling tiles of the hospital room. She gasped, sitting up but as she did so, she was met by a sharp pain in her arm. She groaned in agony, grabbing her arm and looking down; it was in a cast. She looked all over, finding that her right leg was also in a cast and upon further investigation she found that her head was wrapped in bandages.

"H-How bad was that crash?!"

"TAFFYTA! TAFFYTA!" cried a familiar voice. The strawberry racer looked towards the door, seeing Candlehead running in, tears streaming down her face.

"Candlehead?"

"Oh my GOOOOOOBS! Are ya okay, Taffy?!" asked the Candleheaded racer who was crying buckets. Taffyta looked up, finding the other racers filing in one after another and carrying gifts.

"We saw the entire thing! It was HORRIBLE!" said Sticky, placing the gift to Taffyta's side.

Taffyta forced a weak smile, reaching for the small box "G-Gee, thanks guys but frankly, I don't remember that much!"

"If I were in the same crash as you, I wouldn't want to remember it either!" quipped Gloyd "I mean, ya almost DIED back there!"

"Considering I would have respawned if I did, I think I would have rather done that…."

"DON'T SAY THAT!" cried Rancis "That's crazy talk!"

"S-sorry…." Taffyta said softly "I'm just…Urgh, a lil sore, ya know!"

The others nodded; maybe it was better to leave Taffyta to rest. She had a lot to do before she got back on the track. After some hugs, kisses and goodbyes, the others left leaving Taffyta alone in her hospital room. She looked around, seeing the piles and piles of gifts from fans and friends alike. The sight made her smile but as she looked to the table next to her, a small gift caught her eye.

It was wrapped in old candy paper, a crude bow affixed on top of it.

"What is this?" the racer asked, picking it up and looking at the tag.

From Vanellope.

Taffyta's eyes widened as she quickly opened up the box. The first thing she saw was a note.

~Hey Taffy, I hope ya find this since I know you're going to get lots of packages. Mine is so small, I just hope it means something to you. XOXO Vanellope.~

The racer looked in the box, finding a small strawberry pin inside.

It was such a cute trinket. It was so…Vanellope!

Taffyta couldn't help but smile as she looked down at the adorable little thing, clutching it tightly.

"Heh, I know JUST where ta put ya too!"

Taffyta reached out and grabbed her coat that was sitting at the foot of her bed. She then affixed the pin over the area where her heart would be if she put the jacket on.

"Now everyone can see it!" she said brightly.

"Thaffyta!"

"King Candy!" the racer shouted in surprise, the monarch dragging a wagon load of gift behind him, looking concerned "Hello sir! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm just glad to thee you ALIVE, my dear!" the man blubbered, tears running down his rosy cheeks "T-t-to THEE a crash like that?! I've never seen anythin' so HORRIBLE in my life!" he wept, grabbing onto the girl and hugging her a tad TOO tightly.

"URF! I'm glad for your concern, but I'm gonna be fine!"

The king sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye "I-I know that! You're a throng girl, Thaffy!"

Taffyta couldn't help but beam with pride at the compliment!

"Why thank you sir! As your number one racer, I always pride myself in making this game look good…." She laughed nervously "Even from the hospital bed…."

"Yes, yes, yes…" the ruler said, his face turning a bit grim "But…..but there's thumin' else I want to discuss with you."

"An' what would that be?" asked a curious Taffyta.

"When we were pullin' ya car inta tha garage ta see what had happened….we…..we found thum things." The monarch said, hanging his head low.

"What do you mean 'found some things'?

"What I mean isth…." The man stopped, putting a hand over his heart "It would be best if YOU came to thee this yourself. I would rather discuss it in tha privacy of tha castle instead of here."

"Okaaaay…." The girl said nervously.

"I'll arrange for a charter to come an' get you later, my dear!" the man said "But until then, rest up!"

And with that, the King waved a goodbye and began to make his way out of the hospital. As he exited the building he looked around, a funny feeling coming over him.

"I know you're there, GLITCH." The man hissed angrily.

A rustle from a nearby bush hit the man's ears.

"Ya better count yourself lucky that I didn't thee ya gettin' close ta ANY of tha racers, otherwise it would be the FUNGEON for ya!" the man growled, hopping into his cart and taking off. As soon as he was gone, a tiny raven-haired racer popped her head from the bushes, a look of fear on her face.

"Th-that was close!" she gulped. Vanellope turned towards the hospital, looking up towards the window where Taffyta's room was "Oh, I hope ya get well soon, Taff."

"So what did he say?!" asked Vanellope, hopping up and down in excitement.

"He…" Taffyta hesitated for a second, rubbing her arm nervously "J-just a buncha junk! The guy is clearly delusional!"

"If ya say it like that, then why are ya plannin' ta go back tomorrow?" Vanellope asked, her hands on her hips.

Taffyta smiled, winking at the girl "Hey, who knows when he could spill the jelly beans! I mean, he's bound to slip up sooner or later!"

"Yeeeah, I guess…" the raven haired racer grumbled, putting her hands in her pocket "But really? This all sounds too fishy to me! I mean, Turbo doesn't seem like the type of person who just suddenly tells all, especially for NOTHING!"

The raven haired racer awaited a snark from her friend but instead got nothing. Taffyta just stood still, her back turned towards her friend.

"Vanellope?" the strawberry racer asked.

"Yeah?" Vanellope answered.

Taffyta didn't move from her spot, her head tilting a bit "Do you think it's fair?"

"Do I think WHAT'S fair?"

"Do you think it's fair that some people are never given a chance to change, even when they really want to?"

The raven-haired racer blushed a bit at the question though she was a little confused, and a tad concerned, over who Taffyta was speaking of. Was she talking about herself….or TURBO?

"If this PERSON knew that they had done horrible things an'…an' were truly dedicated to makin' things better, then yeah. It WOULD be unfair to say that they can't become a better person an' then question why they HAVEN'T changed."

"I'm starting to think…we got lucky."

"What do ya mean, Taffy?"

"What do I mean?" the girl said, turning towards Vanellope "The others an' I are lucky because if some people had their way, we'd never be seen as people after what we did to you! No one would trust us! We'd still be BULLIES an' that it!"

"Heeey, if people still think that, that's THEIR problem!" Vanellope said with a smile, putting her hand on Taffyta's shoulder "I mean, before Turbo came in an' ruined everything, I KNOW what we were ALL like and its WASN'T what Turbo influenced ya ta be!"

Taffyta just sighed, her eyes still averted from her friend.

"C'mon, don't start this again!" Vanellope laughed "Ralph, Felix, and the others trust you guys and know you're good people but…but in the end, you shouldn't let the negative thoughts of ONE person rule ya like that! You'll just end up bein' miserable!"

"I-I guess you're right….but part of me is havin' a hard time belivin' that, mostly because so many things are playin' in my head."

Vanellope's brows began to furrow as she looked at her friend; something was bothering her and she knew it had to be Turbo. Vanellope KNEW this was a bad idea from the get go!

"Taff…if ya don't wanna go back to talk to Turbo, you don't have to! No one is makin' ya!"

Taffyta shook her head, "No, I HAVE to do this. We deserve an answer to WHY he took us over and seein' as I'm the only one he wants to talk to-!"

"I think Turbo is doin' more than talkin' ta ya!" Vanellope growled "Seriously, he's up to no good and-!"

"AND, even if he is….I can see through his lies!" Taffyta cut in, surprising Vanellope a bit. The little ruler wasn't so sure; ever since Taffyta had returned from her first meeting with Turbo, she had been acting strange. Sure, she had expected Taffyta to be a little miffed or even shocked to seeing Turbo again after so long but the strawberry racer seemed drained, almost as if seeing him had actually affected her so much that it HURT.

Vanellope HATED seeing Taffyta like this but she knew she couldn't stop her; once Taffyta had her mind set on something, she wasn't going to stop. The only thing Vanellope could do at this point was give her some reassurance.

"Just don't let your guard down…" Vanellope warned "Tha last things this arcade needs is somethin' ta happen to give Turbo some sort of leverage against us!"

Taffyta looked at her friend, a serious look on her face "Nelly, I would never, EVER let that happen! No matter how much Turbo tries to convince me, I won't let that man use me as his puppet again!"

Such strong words, but Taffyta knew otherwise. She was breaking and she knew it would only be a matter of time before she would be nothing more than jagged pieces of her former self.

Turbo sat on his cot, his mind once again preoccupied with the magazine he was reading.

"I hafta thay, these new models are getting' more an' more sleek! Rawr!"

"Excuse me…" Calhoun called, her voice harsh "But someone is here ta see ya!"

Turbo looked at the woman for a moment before returning his attention to his book "If it's another reporter or somethin', thell them I don't-"

"Aw, drop it Turbo!" Taffyta said "Ya know good an' well I've been tha only authorized visitor here!"

Try as he might, Turbo couldn't hide the smile that was starting to form on his face as he turned his back towards the two characters. It appeared that the man was happy that Taffyta had returned but the racer hoped that was the ONLY intention to his smile.

"I see ya got thumthin' in your hands, kid…." The racer said "Care package?"

"Ya can call it that." Taffyta said as she held the box in front of her "I just brought ya your favorite."

Turbo's favorite? The man turned, walking over to Taffyta and taking the pink box from her hands. As he opened it up, he was surprised to find several cupcakes inside, each and every one his favorite flavors. The man was a little confused; what was this for? Was it out of honest kindness or did Taffyta have something else in mind? The former racer decided to play coy for a while, taking a cupcake from the box and eating it in a taunting manner in front of both Calhoun and Taffyta.

"They're a lil dry…."

"Heh, figured you'd start pouting…." Taffyta laughed, shaking her head.

"I gotta get ta work, but I have Mouse posted if ya need anythin'" Calhoun said, placing a hand on the girl's head.

"Don't worry, Sarge. I can take care of MYSELF, even with HIM around."

"Oooh, that was rather cold…" Turbo snickered.

Once Calhoun left, Taffyta turned her focus back on the racer, the man still eating the boxful of pastries.

"I've given it some thought Turbo…an' I will admit, ya got me curious."

"Oh, about WHAT?"

"About what you said on Vanellope. How she wouldn't understand the plight you put YOURSELF in after you got your game unplugged."

"Right. THAT." Turbo huffed "Well, kiddo. It just depends on whether or not ya can handle any negative words about your BEST friend. I mean, ya made it clear yesther-day that ya can't even handle ONE accusation thrown towards her!"

Turbo pushed the box away, leaning on his cot as he put his hands behind his head "Aw, who am I foolin'? If someone said somethin' bad 'bout tha twins, I would get upset too. It's just natural!"

"The past, TURBO. Tell me what happened."

Turbo glared at Taffyta but he knew he couldn't hold back his story any longer. He sighed, sitting up.

"Kid, I just want ya ta know…you're not gonna like any of this."

"I don't like this entire situation but oops! Here I am right now!" the girl scowled "Now get on it before I get Mouse in here!"

"Fine, fine, fine…." The man said as he rolled his eyes "But don't blame me when you get upset."

The man sat back, his head lowered but his eyes still focused on the girl before him "I did thay that even with tha terrible things that I did, I was tryin' ta make up for it."

"Right?"

"I was tryin' ta make up for Sugar Rush, for Road Blasters, for my own game…because it was tha right thing ta do. I wanted ta be a ruler that Vanellope never was, one that actually treated her fellow characters like family instead of justh add-ons for her own purpose."

Taffyta knew this was a load of bull, but she would let Turbo have his way if only to entertain him.

"The guyths back in my game? Yeah, we might have been a bit rough on tha edges but we always thicked ta'gether! That's just who we were…an' I guess it was that drive that kinda made me loopy when Road Blasters came in. Everyone thays I just attacked 'em because of ME, but in truth…I attacked because I didn't want my guys ta get ignored an' be forgotten."

"So you're tellin' me ya attacked Road Blasters for EVERYONE in your game?"

Turbo nodded "Yeah….it was stupid but hey, I was stupid back then…."

"But what does this have ta do with Sugar Rush? Why come to our game an-!?"

"Believe me when I say this! I only came ta Sugar Rush for sanctuary! I knew it was unorthodox at the time, but I didn't want ta live alone anymore! So the moment your game was plugged in, I couldn't resist! But-!"

"But what?" Taffyta pressed, moving closer to the cell.

"I…" Turbo was struggling just to say what was on his mind, as if the 'truth' was just too painful "I knew it was a mistake the moment I came in but…but I went to Vanellope!"

"Y-You did?"

"Yes! I knew she was designated to be the main character so if anyone could help me, it was her but when I asked for help she-!"

Turbo held his hands together tightly, his anger rising "When I came for help, she turned me away but it wasn't the refusal that got me…it was what she thaid. I will always remember that moment! Tha moment your PRINCESS treated me like dirt for who I was! She mocked me before I was an older game character, she mocked me because I was homeless, she mocked me because I had lost everyone! She-!"

Taffyta growled, shaking the bars of the cell "You expect me to SWALLOW this load?!"

"I told ya, ya wouldn't like what I had to thay!" Turbo shouted, his face turning red in anger "But I assure you on my very being, my very code! I'm thellin' ya tha truth!"

"Right, an' I'm actually related ta Amy Rose!" Taffyta scowled "Ya might try to convince yourself otherwise but I know Vanellope! She would NEVER have done that to a character, even one as greasy as YOU!"

"How can you be so sure of that?" Turbo asked, his eyes widening "Just how in the world do you know that for certain?"

"Because now she-!"

"No. No, not NOW." The man said, his hands held out before him "Think about things from the past. Before all this misery came into play. How are ya sure that Vanellope wouldn't hide somethin' from ya, especially tha way she would treat other people!"

"I-it's…it's just not HER!" Taffyta growled "It's not in her nature! Sure, Nelly can be a bit ROUGH but she has never been cruel!"

Turbo just stood before Taffyta, a look of pity on his face but not for himself.

He was in pity for Taffyta.

"Kid….ya don't know thum of tha things I've seen."

"An' what were these THINGS that ya claim to have seen?" asked Taffyta, her arms crossed.

"There is a lot of protection from behind closed doors…" the man started "You can get away with so many things. Even before I went to ask Vanellope for help, I saw an' heard what she thought of ya an' tha rest of tha kids an' perhaps bein' isolated for fifteen years had humbled her but…but it still doesn't hide tha way she was in tha past."

Taffya couldn't resist; she had to know what Turbo was talking about.

"It really grinds me when main characters look so low on those they share their game with. I know that happened to your buddy Ralph but I find it ironic that of all people, Vanellope would get with him when she was guilty of the same thing! As I made my way across your game, I heard her talk. I heard her say HORRIBLE things about ya an' the other kids. How ya were inferior, how your only purpose was ta fill in space that rightfully belonged to her, how she hated ta lose….ESPECIALLY ta ya!"

The strawberry racer knew better to get herself roped in by Turbo's words but the man was doing such a convincing job in retelling his point of view. He really did look hurt and sorry.

Bu that still didn't excuse his actions!

But what if he was right? What if Vanellope had said all of these things?

Did that mean that she was just as guilty for bringing on everything that happened to Sugar Rush? Had her own arrogance brought upon the reign of King Candy?

"O-Okay, so Nelly hurt your feelin's apparently but why take us over? Why not tell someone in the arcade who would listen?"

"Do you really think anyone in this arcade would have listened to a homeless wash-out like me?" Turbo snickered though it was obvious he did so painfully "I don't think ya know just how bad some of tha homeless characters were treated here. We were always looked down upon an' we were never given tha time of day. We were just invisible…an' havin' ta go through tha injustice of listenin' ta Vanellope tell me how PATHETIC I was over an' over again an' know she felt tha same about ya? It just drew me over tha edge!"

The former racer got to his feet as he turned back towards the wall, his hands behind his back.

"I had already gotten tha info on tha Konami code…but I guess I was so angry by that point, I knew I had ta use it. I don't know why an' I know if I were given a second chance, I would think it over but ya have ta understand. I was ANGRY. I was full of hate an' pain from lo-thin' everythin' an' seeing someone abuse their position as they were! So….so I went in…."

"An' that when you used your cheat to break into the code room…" Taffyta finished.

Turbo nodded his head, looking back at the girl "R-right…"

"But WHY!? Why do that to us?!"

"I wanted ta give Vanellope a taste of her own medicine! I wanted ta let her know just how it felt ta be treated in such a way an' at first, I will admit, I liked it. Ta be back on top, ta see someone who was lyin' get their just desserts but…"

"What?! WHAT?!" Taffyta asked, pressing harder on the bars.

"But after a while it hit me…I had become a monster but I couldn't just confeth an' let everyone know what was going on. If word got out, then everyone would blame me! M-Maybe though….that would have been the braver option but as ya know, I took the cowards way out but….I really did think that if I was a kinder, ni-ther ruler than Vanellope, I could make up for all the mistakes I made. I justh kept tellin' myself that."

Taffyta was shaken by what the man was telling her; so all this time, Turbo's want and reason for taking over her home had changed. His first intentions had actually caused so much guilt that he had convinced himself that he could make it better, all the while making things worse.

This was eating away at the girl horribly. Turbo's methods of love included condition her to hate her best friend and to lead the others into treating her like dirt but it was all for a reason? To teach Vanellope a lesson in her own actions? The girl thought back as far as she could and she kept coming back to the same images.

Those images before Turbo, the ones of everyone being friends like they always had been.

But according to Turbo, those were lies as well.

Vanellope didn't like them?

Vanellope thought they were a waste of space?

Her love towards them, it was all a lie?

And Turbo….

Was she to believe that his own actions of love towards herself and the other racers were TRUE, real feelings unlike that of the actual ruler of the game?

Taffyta's chest began to tighten and her head began to hurt the more she thought. This couldn't be possible! Turbo was lying!

But he was so certain of it!

It was all another façade! He just wanted to work his way into her mind again!

But what if this were all true?

Taffyta remembered the words she had asked Vanellope; was it fair to judge Turbo right now? He wanted to change, at least he made it seem like he did. If he wanted to change and show that he was a better person, she had to allow him that chance, less she be a hypocrite.

Taffyta and the racers were given a chance and they proved that they were good people.

As much as it hurt, Taffyta was going to have to do the same to Turbo.

The man returned to his spot on the cot, looking sadly at the ground "Tha more I think about this, tha more it hits me ta realize how much pain I put ya in. I shouldn't have done those things ta ya guys, even if Vanellope had treated me badly."

The man stopped, flinching a bit.

"I….I'm sorry."

"W-what?"

"I'm sorry." The man repeated, his eyes looking right at the girl and full of grief "I'm sorry for what I did. I've caused so much pain but….but I did it because I was scared. Scared that I would be forgotten and scared that someone else would be mistreated as well."

"An-an what about the party?" the racer asked, an eyebrow acrhing "Are ya blaming THAt on fear as well?"

"Y-yes…I was desperate when I sought those two out! I was angry that so many people had only known me as a monster by that point that I thought if I controlled them AS a monster then-!"

Turbo punched the side of the wall, letting out a frustrated cry "Why can't I do anything right?! I just…I just wanted to enjoy life with everyone! I never wanted this to happen!"

Taffyta looked down at the former racer, her conscious weighing on her. Just like before, Taffyta didn't see the same man she thought she knew in front of her but instead of viewing him as a threat, it seemed like the girl now viewed him as a victim.

But who was the real victim in this story? Turbo or the citizens of Sugar Rush?

The former champ made his case very convincing, presenting the girl a story of a man who's own fear and jealousy had caused him to strike but in his moment of realization, he tried to make up for it, only to have that taken away from him as well without having a single soul to hear him.

But it couldn't have been true, it just couldn't have been.

Turbo was being a protector the entire time? And even if he was right in his accusations that Vanellope was just as bad as him, there was the fact that after so long she had changed as well, IF he were telling the truth.

It was on wonder Turbo had chosen Taffyta to talk to. The girl couldn't imagine the man telling his story and breaking down like this in front of anyone else.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six- Evidence

Taffyta wasn't used to being escorted in the royal charter but seeing as King Candy INSISTED that she come by, she had no choice. The girl sat in silence as she rode the candy carriage back toward the track, a bit of a nervous shiver going up her spine as she lay eyes on the crash site, pieces of the stands still in a twisted heap from the impact.

"I wonder what King Candy wanted me to see…" the girl thought to herself, wringing her hands.

The carriage stopped at the garage, two little candy nurses helping Taffyta on her crutches as she made her way inside. A few mechanics were working about but aside from them, the other racers were gone. She stood the lone racer in the building.

Save for one man.

"Thaffyta…." King Candy said in a grim tone "I'm glad that you decided to thum. I…I just couldn't tell you the news of what we found in your cart while you were still so weak."

"Ya found something?" Taffyta said in curiosity "Like what? A broken spark plug? A snapped fan belt?"

"If only it were that thimple…" the candy monarch said, shaking his head "What we found was much more troubling."

The strawberry racer stepped forward, a serious look about her "C'mon, King Candy! Don't hold back on me! What did you find?!"

Without saying another word, King Candy took Taffyta's hand and placed an object inside. Uncurling her fingers, the girl's eyes were met by something that made her heart skip.

A clump of peppermints, a gummie bear, and a heart-shaped candy.

All personal hair decorations of Vanellope Von Schweetz.

"W-where did you-?"

"These items were found all over the engine…." The king said "But it wasn't just that we found those in your car, it's what we DIDN'T find."

"L-like WHAT?"

"S-several pieces of your kart had been taken, while others had been completely the-stroyed." The king said "In fact, some parts of your engine were tho scratched up from vandalism, I was surprised you made it as far as ya did in the race before crashing!"

"B-but…ya can't POSSIBLY believe that Vanellope-!?"

"THAFFYTA! STOP THIS!" the man yelled in anger "What is it going to take for ya ta see what she has been doin' to ya?! Do ya hafta finally DIE an' RESET before ya realize that Vanellope wants to HURT you!?"

Taffyta stood frozen in front of her king, her heart aching.

This couldn't be true. It just couldn't be! Vanellope couldn't have done this to her kart!

She was a friend, an ally, a person who always had her ears and her heart open!

No, Vanellope Von Schweetz could and would never do something this heinous!

"I don't believe you!" Taffyta spat out, throwing the pieces of candy to the ground "There has to be something else to this! Maybe a jealous fan did this and wanted to pin the blame on someone else! I know Nelly too well to-!"

The monarch put a hand on Taffyta's head, his face dropping.

"Child….there is more."

"M-more?"

King Candy nodded sadly, going over to the one of the surveillance cameras from the garage. He pressed play on the remote, the rosiness in his cheeks disappearing.

"I knew ya wouldn't believe the thmall evidence….so….." he paused, a bit too angry to express himself "I just want you to thee this…"

King Candy pressed play and before Taffyta's eyes unfolded an image that would haunt her for the rest of her days.

There on video were the images of Vanellope.

"W-what is she-?!"

On the video, the girl pulled her hood up and began o make her way towards Taffyta's car and without any sort of hesitation, she grabbed the nearest wrench and.

BAM!

"No!"

WHACK!

"TURN IT OFF!"

POW!

"STOP IT!"

By now, Taffyta was on her knees crying but she wasn't crying because of the damage that was being done to her car. While she put a lot of pride into Pink Lightening, there was something much more important that was being destroyed.

Her trust.

Her friendship.

Her heart.

She couldn't take it. She couldn't take the images of Vanellope purposely breaking the cart, she couldn't take the images of the girl ripping out pieces of the engine for her own use.

She couldn't take the images because they proved that King Candy was RIGHT.

He was right all along.

He was right about Vanellope using her. He was right about her stealing parts. He was right about her wanting nothing more than to use the game for her own gain.

The sight of the crying child saddened the King and he placed a hand on her back, trying his best to comfort her.

"I'm not showing this to you as a punishment, I want you to know that." The man said "But you needed to see this. If ya didn't….ya wouldn't know tha truth an' as ruler an' protector of this game, I couldn't lie to my subjects."

Taffyta clenched her fist, a lump forming in her throat as the burning feel of rage formed in her heart.

She was angry, she was furious, she was ENRAGED.

No one uses Taffyta Muttonfudge and gets away with it.

Especially not a GLITCH.

* * *

GLITCH!

Vanellope glitched over to the throne, a tape measure held in her hands. She had been keeping track of how far she could use her powers but as she was starting to find out, she could only take herself so far and for only so many turns.

"It's as Swizz said, I gotta watch myself…" the girl thought to herself, rubbing her chin. Just then, the sound of an engine caught her ear. A smile on her face, the girl ran over to the window and saw Taffyta pulling up at the castle doors.

"'Bout time she came back!" the girl said happily, running towards the entrance. Vanellope was beside herself with excitement to hear any more info on what Turbo had to say but as she saw Taffyta walking up to her, she noticed just how drained the girl looked. She stopped in her tracks, a little scared at the sight.

"T-Taff?"

Taffyta didn't say a word, only looking up at the monarch with a sad look about her eyes.

"Taffy….w-what's-?"

"I-I don't wanna talk about it right now…" the strawberry racer said "I just need time to relax."

"Really, then why not go home? I mean, what is there here that can make you relax?"

Taffyta threw open the doors that lead to the great hall "You know where I'll be…."

Without saying another word, Taffyta walked from the throne into the far reaches of the vast palace, Vanellope standing alone.

Alone.

That was a feeling Vanellope hated but she knew better than to bother Taffyta at the moment. She would respect her friend's request for privacy but at the same time, she just wanted to know what was going on.

"This Turbo business is gonna drag the whole game down!" the racer thought "An' tha worst part about that? He's not even in the game himself to do it!"

Taffyta made her way down the halls, greeted by candy guards every step of the way.

"Hello Lady Taffyta!"

A nod.

"Good afternoon Ms. Muttonfudge.

A wave.

"It is nice to see you, Little Miss!"

A slight smile.

Taffyta was much too focused to greet people when she came upon a door; the royal archives.

Here, all the records were kept from EVERY game that had EVER been recorded in the memory banks of the game, as well as some of the trophies that the racers wanted to store. To say that the room was huge would have been an understatement; the place was every changing and ever growing and Taffyta knew this was the place to go not only to look at old records.

But old memories as well.

She stepped on a lift, the little box lighting up.

"Hello, Ms. Muttonfudge…" the voice of the box droned "Is there anything you would like to see today?"

"Take me to all records from our first year."

"Of course…"

The lift glowed brightly, hovering up into the air and taking Taffyta further and further into the archives. As she watched the went by years and years of race scores, records, and pictures flew by her, but what disturbed her the most were how many of them had King Candy in them. It pained her to know that of all the records that had been kept, only a short span of time showed the true face of the game….

That first year and the year when Vanellope once again regained her spot in her own home.

"Sugar Rush records; year one." The box droned as it came to a halt "Please remember to place all records back accordingly, or the data will become corrupted and damaged."

"Y-Yeah, I know…" Taffyta said, thumbing through the archives "Let's see…let's see…"

The girl reached for a record, the data set resembling a photo album more than anything else.

"Ah, this was day one!" the girl chuckled to herself "We had a LOTTA trouble that day, mostly from the kids that didn't know how to work the game!"

That was a good day; the random roster had selected Taffyta and Vanellope as two of the daily picks for the day and it was great to get a taste of racing. There were so many crashes, so many wins, but at the end, everyone was happy. The smile on Taffyta's face only grew larger as the flood of happy memories filled her brain.

But she was looking for something else.

She continued to look through the archives of the first year. Nothing out of the ordinary was coming up but then.

"AH-HA!"

There it was.

The day that everything changed.

Taffyta took hold of the data and thumbed through it; in it were pictures of King Candy.

How she hated that smug grin on his face, the man leaning on his cane as if he owned the place! If only people knew beforehand that it was all a lie!

The files of that day showed that King Candy had indeed shown up and taken over the roster, winning almost every race that day over the other racers and as Taffyta continued her investigation, the pattern remained the same. Even on days when she came in first, King Candy was ALWAYS there, no matter the circumstances, no matter the race.

King Candy was ALWAYS in the roster.

"Betcha the man cheated his way every time…" the girl growled "But where is it?"

Taffyta scoured all the books once more, her eyes growing weary from looking through the albums for countless hours.

"I-I know it has to be here! It has to be! If it's not in the OFFICIAL records, it should be in the stuff that we took and stored!"

Again, the girl peered through the album containing the data from those first few days when Turbo wasn't even on their minds. She looked at the off-data pictures, junk that she and the others had taken for fun. Vanellope was there, dressed in her racing outfit instead of her gaudy princess dress but the most important thing wasn't that Vanellope was still princess…

But rather she was having fun with everyone else.

If only those who doubt the racers' relationship with Vanellope could see these, perhaps then they would see that their friendship was genuine from day one, and not fake as they claimed.

Or as Turbo had claimed.

Taffyta turned the page, more pictures meeting her eyes but she felt a bit discouraged. She was coming up at a lost and her search was running on empty.

"I-I was sure it was here! I was sure-!"

Suddenly, a small photo slipped from inside the archive. The girl squeaked, almost letting to fall all the way back to the ground but as she caught it, something caught her attention. She looked harder at the picture, her eyes growing wider in shock.

"There it is! I can't believe it, BUT-!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven – Façade

Vanellope yawned as she stepped from her hiding place in Diet Cola Mountain. She wanted to see if she could visit Taffyta in the hospital before anyone noticed her and she knew the best chance to do this was early in the morning.

"Just hope that Taffyta isn't too sleepy to see me!" the girl laughed to herself as she took off towards the village. Once she was some distance away from Diet Cola Mountain, the girl felt an odd presence come over her. Something wasn't right.

"H-Hello?"

Silence.

Maybe she was just worried about things. That HAD to be it.

Vanellope continued on her way, though she did so slowly, hoping not to run into anyone as she made her trek down to the village.

"I see you're up early…." Said an angry voice. Vanellope squeaked as she turned and glitched, looking at none other than Taffyta Muttonfudge. At the moment, Vanellope was much too surprised to notice how angry her friend look.

"Aw MAN! Don't SCARE me like that, Taffya! Ya could have given me a heart-attack!"

Taffyta didn't laugh at the joke. She didn't even smile.

Something else was on her mind and it wasn't jokes or fun.

It was just anger.

"So…where were ya headin'?" asked the strawberry racer, her eyes still glued on Vanellope.

"Er, I was gonna visit you…" the raven haired racer responded, backing away a bit "I mean, I thought you were still in the hospital but I'm glad that you're out an' about!"

"I'm sure you are…" Taffyta glared "I mean, if I were still in bed, what opportunity WOULD you have to see my kart?"

Vanellope blinked; see her kart? What was Taffyta getting on about?

"W-what are ya talkin' about? I just wanted ta see if YOU were okay!"

Taffyta slowly made her way over to Vanellope, the girl filled to the brim with rage "I trusted you…."

"H-huh?"

"I TRUST you, Vanellope Von Schweets! I thought I could trust you as a friend, as a confidant….even as a SISTER, but-!"

Taffyta stopped, a bit too worked up at the moment "How COULD you?!"

"W-what are ya getting' on about, Taffyta?" Vanellope asked, getting a little angry herself "You're actin' as if I broke in and did somethin' ta ya!"

"Oh, you DID VANELLOPE and I saw it plain as day!"

"An' just WHAT would be this thing that I did to ya?!"

"I wanna ask ya something, NELLY." Taffyta said, getting so close to Vanellope that their noses almost touched "Were ya upset that I didn't get killed and reset during the race? Did ya plan on shakin' me up SO BADLY that I would quit? Is that what ya were trying to do?!"

Vanellope looked at the racer with a confused look "You're not makin' an sense, Taffy!"

"If I'm not…." The girl growled, getting closer to Vanellope "Then maybe THESE should!"

The strawberry racer then pulled the broken parts from her kart, as well as Vanellope's hair candy, from her pockets and shoved them into girl's chest.

"HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?!"

Vanellope looked at the items that had been given to her but it didn't take her long to figure out what Taffyta was implying. Her jaw dropped at the thought "You….You can't believe that I messed up your kart! YOU CAN'T!"

"And why NOT?!" spat Taffyta "I have more than enough evidence to prove that you did it!" and out came the photos, the strawberry racer forcing them into Vanellope's hands.

"TH-this doesn't prove ANYTHIN'!" Vanellope yelled, her face turning red "Ya can get candy like this ANYWHERE in the game an…an…."

Vanellope looked down at the screen shots. She knew that would be a big one to explain but she knew they were faked, SOMEHOW!

"Taffyta, you have to trust me! I didn't do this!"

"I trust you…I really did…" the strawberry racer said, tears running down her cheeks "An' now I'm startin' to see that I was STUPID for doin' that…"

"T-Taffyta…."

"I really thought you were different, Vanellope." Taffyta choked "I thought you were someone who could really understand me and see me as a friend, not just as some BOSS or somethin'. Ya really helped me learn to be more open towards the others because I could be open towards YOU…..but…..but was it all a façade? Did you just PRETEND to listen to me to get closer to what YOU wanted?!"

"Why are you saying these things?!" Vanellope quivered, backing away.

"DID YOU!? ANSWER ME!" shrieked the strawberry racer.

Vanellope shook in her shoes, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at the angry Taffyta "I…I-!"

"TELL ME THE TRUTH, VANELLOPE!"

"OKAY! YA WANNA KNOW THE TRUTH?!" the racer screamed "I WAS JEALOUS! I WAS JEALOUS THAT YOU GUYS GET TO RACE AN' I DON'T!"

Taffyta froze in her place, her eyes filling with even more tears.

"Ya just don't understand! Ya guys are SO lucky that you weren't left in this game ta ROT as some unwanted character an' ta see ya race day in an' day out…YES! I got JEALOUS! But I would NEVER, EVER hurt you for that! I promise I wouldn't!"

"LIAR!" Taffyta screamed.

"Taffyta, I'm not lying!" the raven hair racer pleaded, almost falling to her knees.

"King Candy was right!" Taffyta sobbed "You were using me to-!"

"King Candy?! H-He's the one who told you this?!" Vanellope said in a shocked voice "B-But he-!"

"Wh-what? What did he do?" asked Taffyta.

Vanellope just stood before Taffyta, her face paling "Taff….are ya tellin' me that ya would believe King Candy….or ME?"

* * *

"I'm glad that ya came back…" Turbo said in a soft voice, the man smiling a bit.

"Why would I stop now?" Taffyta replied, handing him another care package "I mean…after what I found out, I just don't know what to think anymore."

"Hmmm? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is…." The racer sighed heavily "It's all starting to come back. All of it….everything you said? It all fits now."

Turbo opened the care package; doughnuts. The former racer let out a small chuckle as he took one of the delectable things and took a bite out of it.

"I found a photo." Taffyta began "I found a photo that confirmed everything you said."

"A photo? Wh-who was in it?"

"Us of course….but there was something about Vanellope in it. It tied into EVERYTHING you said about her and…and…."

The girl stopped, her body shaking as she shut her eyes tight.

"I just can't face this anymore!"

Turbo gave the child a look of pity as he approached her, putting his hand on her head.

"Dear thweet Thaffyta. I knew the news would be hard ta take but….but I just had to say it. I couldn't let it fester within me any longer…"

Taffyta gazed up at the man with her huge blue eyes, tears running down her cheeks.

"Perhaps it was fate that would land me here an' perhaps it was that same fate that would prevent anyone from believing the real truth of what has happening in you game. That was….until ya came along." The man went down on his knees, smiling at the girl "But I'm glad that SOMEONE was able to see things through without jumping to conclusions! I just wish…."

"Y-yeah?"

"I just wish…for once….that maybe I would be given one more chance. That I would be able to see light once more instead of laying in this hovel!"

Taffyta shook her head "I-I just can't help you on that Turbo, I'm sorry!"

"I…I understand, Thaffy. I understand…."

Taffyta stood back, drying her tears as best she could "But I want ya to know this, Turbo. Even if everyone thinks differently, at least there is someone who will ALWAYS be on your side." The girl smiled, removing her hat from her head "Me."

For the first time in a long time, Turbo felt a sense of hope coming within him, a huge grin on his face. He chuckled once more, putting a hand to his eyes as if he were embarrassed.

"I just…wow." He snickered "I don't know how to feel about that one! I thought I would be a bit more prideful if someone told me that but here I am! Feelin' all embarrassed! Ya really know how to work through me kid!"

"Of course…" Taffyta whispered "I have an' always will be your favorite racer."

Turbo smiled, reaching out and taking Taffyta's hand, holding it gently.

"Thank you. Thank you for remembering that I am a character, not a criminal. I am not saying that what I did was right or that I even condone it now….I just….it just feels so good to have someone see me as a livin' character instead of a threat."

"Trust me Turbo…." The girl smiled "I know EXACTLY what it feels like to have the entire arcade hate you. To have the entire arcade treat you like dirt and never even consider giving you a second chance. But….but I'm not like that. Unlike those people, I DO give second chances…and I think you deserve y-!"

"TAFFYTA!"

The girl jolted up in shock as she turned, seeing Vanellope standing at the end of the prison hall, an angry look on her face.

"I thought I said you couldn't come here any longer!"

The strawberry racer walked to her friend, a desperate look on her face "Vanellope! You know I had to see this to the end!"

"An' ya also know that as your PRINCESS, I make the rules in the game an' you're BANNED from doin' this interview any longer!" the raven haired racer roared in anger, almost as if she wanted everyone in Hero's Duty to hear her.

"Vanellope, NO!" the strawberry racer screamed "Why are ya doin' this to me?!"

"Ya didn't think I'd find out about your lil search through our archives, right? Ya thought I was too stupid NOT to notice the missin' pictures?!"

Taffyta hung her head low, her demeanor very meek "L-look, I just had to be check on somethin'! That's all!"

"Yeah, you're right THAT'S ALL!" the raven haired racer said, taking Taffyta roughly by the arm "An' now we're gettin' outta here!"

"V-Vanellope! STOP!"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

"Well, hear me out! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO THIS!"

Vanellope stopped in her tracks, her shoulders hunched in anger "Taffyta….who is the MAIN character of our game?"

Taffyta stopped, her cheeks blushing red as she looked away from the girl but she finally spoke out "Y-You are."

"Riiiight…." Vanellope turned on her heels, crossing her arms "WHO is the RULER of our game?"

"Y-you…"

"Hmmm? What was that? Who is the RULER of Sugar Rush?"

"YOU ARE!"

"Correct again!" cooed Vanellope, patting Taffyta's head condescendingly "An' as RULER of our WONDERFUL game, I'm gonna be lenient on ya an' NOT revoke your drivin' privilages AGAIN!"

Turbo could only look at was unfolding before him. Sure, the girls had moved their argument down to the hall but one quick peek around the corner, and Turbo could see the two arguing as plain as day. Wanting everything to end, Taffyta shook her head and followed the angry Vanellope, the two racers disappearing down the hall.

"Wow…that was intense…" Turbo whispered to himself as he sat back on his cot "Huh, it's a lil sad though…"

Sad?

Sad couldn't cover what had unfolded before the man!

"An' ta think, Taffyta told me that Vanellope had changed!"

Turbo found himself once again alone in his cell, the droning of the machinery above him echoing throughout the halls. For anyone else, the sound would have been maddening…but there sat Turbo, the man resting peacefully on his cot.

And grinning from ear to ear.

"This change seems to have been for the better…." The man chuckled "An' from the looks of things…it's all comin' inta play."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight – Just a Glitch, Just a Bully

Vanellope ran as fast as she could to the palace, caring not a lick if anyone saw her.

"I gotta find out what's goin' on! I GOTTA!"

Up the path, down the hall, right to the door.

"KING CANDY! KING CANDY!" the girl cried as loud as she could, her little hands pounding on the door "LET ME IN! PLEASE LET ME IN!"

"What are you doing here?!" roared the voice of an Oreo guard.

"You know GLITCHES aren't allowed here!" cried another.

Vanellope gasped as she turned, seeing the guards point their weapons towards her. She glitched in place, fear rising in her as she clutched onto the locks of the door. Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself falling backwards!

"OOF!"

She looked up, seeing none other than King Candy himself standing before the girl, a cross look on his face. She gasped, scooting back and trying to see if she had made the monarch even more upset with her presence.

"K-King Candy, I-!"

"What do you think you're doing?!" the man roared.

"I'M SORRY!" Vanellope shivered "I know ya don't like to have visitors come in like this but-!"

"No, no, no! Not YOU!" the king said, shaking his head "THEM!" he then pointed to the guards, each one looking more confused than the next.

"B-but sir! You told us that if Vanellope even crossed the path to the castle, we should-!"

"I said NOTHING of the thort!" the man replied rather tartly, his hands on his hips "If Ms. Von Schweetz WANTS to visit me, she can do so at ANY time!"

Everyone was taken aback in shock, Vanellope most of all. For as far back as she could remember, King Candy was NOT her biggest fan and would waste not a second to send her running if he so much as saw the girl coming near himself or the other racers.

But now all of a sudden his mind had been changed?

What was going on?

Vanellope looked at the guards, suddenly wondering if it were safer to be with them than the king but her mind was dead-set on something else and to get her answer, she required the help of the king. Nervously, she stepped into the huge throne room, the doors slamming shut behind her. King Candy made his way to the throne, sitting down as he smiled at the girl warmly.

"Now…" he cooed "What theems to be your problem young lady?"

Vanellope looked around, not sure how to take things. She had prepared herself for a battle but now it seemed like all of that were for nothing. King Candy was MORE than happy to see her and any anger that she had was all but gone.

But she knew better; she had to keep her guard up. Puffing out her chest and taking a step forward, Vanellope prepared to address the king.

"Your majesty, I'm having problems with one of the racers!"

"Oh my!" King Candy said, looking concerned "An' which ra-ther would it be?"

"Taffyta!" Vanellope snapped "She's got it in her mind that I've been doin' stuff to her kart but I wanna tell ya now, I haven't touched the thing! I havne't touched any of the racers karts!"

The monarch looked more upset than ever, shaking his head sadly "Goodness….that IS thumthing!" he said "I am sorry that this is happenin' ta ya my dear but…"

"But? But WHAT?!" asked Vanellope.

King Candy sighed as he rubbed his temples "Oh dear…I knew this would happen EVENTUALLY.

"What would happen?!" asked Vanellope frantically, running up to the king "King Candy, tell me! I can take it!"

"Are ya THUR?" the king asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, YES! I'm SURE!"

The monarch looked down at the girl in worry; should he tell her the truth or not? It was obvious that the child wouldn't be able to handle what he had to say but he couldn't turn back on her, not with how much she wanted to know. Candy sighed again, placing a hand on Vanellope's head gently.

"Vanellope? Dear?" the king began, his voice filled with sorrow "It seems to me that Taffyta is leadin' a crusade against ya…."

Vanellope blinked, a little surprised at the news.

"A crusade?" she then stopped, thinking a bit "What tha HECK is a crusade?"

"What I mean, DEAR, I've overheard Taffyta talkin' to the others….an' she's been pinnin' the blame of all the recent thefts on their carts on YA."

The raven haired racer's eyes widened in shock; was this true? Had Taffyta actually been spreading rumors about her?

"W-wait! B-but….WHY!?" the girl shouted, shaking a bit "Why would she do that?! I mean, we're friends an'!"

Vanellope stopped, remembering just HOW angry Taffyta had been towards her as of late.

"I-I mean, I think we're friends…"

"FRIENDS?" the king huffed "What kind of FRIEND would spread LIES like that about a person? I mean, I've TRIED to get her to stop! I've even threatened to punish her by taking her off the roster but…."

Vanellope moved closer, wanting to know more.

"But it seems no matter what I do, that little BULLY just doesn't STOP!" the king growled "She's gone so far as to thell tha other candy people that they'll GLITCH if they even come near you! I mean, who would do thumthin' so TERRIBLE?!"

Vanellope was thrown for a loop; this whole time, she expected to confront King Candy about HIS lies….but according to HIM, Taffyta was the true culprit the entire time!

But this also meant that everything that the two had built together over the year, all the love, all the friendship….

All the TRUST.

It was a lie.

PLAIN LIES.

No, this couldn't have been true! Vanellope REFUSED to believe such words and why would she? This was KING CANDY she was talking to, a man who usually tried to throw her in the fungeon whenever she showed up! Why was he showing her concern NOW?

"I know it's strange, isn't it?" the man began, sounding a bit glum "I bet ya hate me don't ya?"

"Huh?" Vanellope asked, rightfully confused "What do ya mean?"

"All this time, I've gotten on your case….but would ya believe me my dear…that there is a reason?"

A reason? A reason to being thrown in the fungeon?

"Vanellope, those kids are DANGEROUS." The king began "They don't see you the same way I do. The things I've heard 'em say….it makes my heart ache. An' ta know that my BEST racer is the leader of the group?! It makes it even worse."

"B-but…." Vanellope was finding it difficult to even talk at this point "But why would Taffyta say such horrible things about me?"

"Jealously perhaps?" the king said "It happens to the BEST of us, my dear. An' Taffyta is just jealous that someone, despite not being fully programmed in the game, could be better than her."

The little racer had to admit that for a split second, a sense of pride came over her; she always felt that she was a racer and to be told that she could be the best, and by the KING for that matter? Well, it made her feel so wonderful inside!

But was Taffyta really jealous of her? Were her laughs, her smiles, her friendship just a way to get Vanellope closer so she could finally do her in? The girl didn't know what to think, all the memories swirling in her head. It wasn't making any sense!

"We talked about karts…we explored the lands….we….we were friends."

"Are ya sure about that, my dear?" Candy's voice echoed within the room "How can ya be so sure?"

By now, Vanellope WASN'T sure. Candy's words were starting to meld with everything she remembered. She tried her hardest to find any sort of memories in her head but the harder she searched, the more her head began to hurt!

Something was wrong! She shouldn't been feeling this way.

"Why does my head hurt?! Why does nothing make sense?!" Vanellope thought to herself as pieces of images flowed into her head, none of them coming together to form something solid.

"Don't you thee my dear?" Candy said, his voice soft "Trusting people like Thaffyta…it'll get you know where but trouble."

"But…but I don't understand!" Vanellope squeaked "An' even so…why be so rough one me?!"

"Let's justh thay, I was playin' FACE my dear…." The monarch said "I know its tough but even if I would have caught ya in front of everyone…I would never throw ya in tha fungeon! Not now, not ever!"

"R-really?" the girl trembled.

King Candy smiled at Vanellope, lifting her head up with his finger "I promise…."

"A-an' what about Taffyta?"

"People like Thaffyta, they always use ya. They lead ya in an' make ya feel secure, only ta cut ya off when ya need it that most…" the king turned, walking back to his throne "I know I might have seemed harsh ta ya in the past but when I was, it was only to save ta. Save ya from THEM."

Vanellope felt tears going down her cheek. Despite her own feelings, she felt that there was something to the king's words that were true. All the anger, all the hate, Taffyta was quick to blame Vanellope for her crash and why?

A true friend wouldn't do that right?

* * *

"Did ya hear what happened down in Hero's Duty last night?" whispered a character.

"Yeah! Vanellope really let Taffya have it!"

"I wonder why though! I mean, didn't Vanellope say it was OKAY for Taffyta to talk to Turbo? I don't see why it was bothering her so much!"

"Maybe because Vanellope didn't like where things were goin'!" another character said.

"Oh! Do tell! I've wanted to hear what Turbo said but almost all the outlets have kept it under wraps!"

Everyone from Sugar Rush could hear the whispers and the gossip throughout the arcade and as one could guess, it was doing nothing to cheer anyone up. Everyone was miserable but what made things even worse was knowing that somehow, Turbo was getting enjoyment from this.

They all knew deep down in their hearts that Turbo had planned this entire thing to work his way and even inside his jail cell, he was succeeding. To the outside arcade, Turbo's evil hands once again had their grasp on Sugar Rush and were tearing the friends apart. Vanellope was fighting with Taffyta and who knew if this could start another rift between the friends.

It was only a matter of time.

Once the arcade had closed, the core four decided to meet up at Tapper's, hoping to clear their heads but as the adult got to the game, they were quick to find that one of their friends hadn't shown up.

Vanellope.

"I should have known this was a bad idea!" Calhoun growled as she slammed her on the counter "Urgh! This whole 'confession' thing has turned into a DISASTER!"

"Hey, what do you expect from someone as sleazy as TURBO?" Ralph said in a glum voice, sipping his rootbeer.

"C'mon Tammy, ya hafta give those girls some credit!" Felix spoke out, trying to see the best in the bleak situation "They're smart enough NOT ta let Turbo wrap lies around 'em so maybe, just maybe, they have this handled better than we think!"

"I hope that's true…" Calhoun sighed "Because believe it or not, I don't want those kids to start fightin' again. I mean, they did so much to each other when Turbo was in charge an' to have it taken away so easily? It just…it just doesn't seem FAIR! They all deserve a break."

"If only life were that easy." Tapper's said, unable to help himself from speaking up "Somethin' is always gonna come up ta make a mess outta things but I hafta agree with your hubby there, Sarge."

"What do ya mean?"

"Those kids are smarter than ya think. Somethin' tells me Turbo only THINKS he's playin' 'em but in reality…" Tapper's gave the three a look, a small smirk appearing on his face "Eh, ya know what I mean."

* * *

"So ya de-thided ta come again?" Turbo said with a smile, looking at Taffyta.

The girl didn't say anything, only glaring ahead at the former racer. Turbo smirked, an evil gleam coming into his eyes.

"I know that look. Ya have somethin' up your sleeves don't cha?"

"I've thought it over. I've thought it over long and hard Turbo an'…." The girl spoke up.

"An' WHAT?" Turbo smiled.

The girl shook, grasping something in her pocket "You were right. You were right about everythin'!"

Unable to look at the man, Taffyta took her hands out of her pocket, revealing…a key card. Turbo recognized it instantly, his eyes widening.

"W-where did you-?!"

"Havin' friends in high places like this gives ya some perks, Turbo." Taffyta whispered "But I'm CERTAIN ya don't know what this is, RIGHT?"

Turbo looked around, still in disbelief of what was happening. He then slowly took the card away from the girl, their eyes still at each other.

"Where should we meet?" he grinned.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine – Lies

"HOW COULD YOU?!" shouted Vanellope in anger, her body glitching every few seconds.

"You tell me FIRST, GLITCH!" spat Taffyta, gripping the side of her crutches.

"I-I can't believe I put my trust in you! I thought you were different from the others!" the raven haired racer yelled.

"ME?! What about YOU?! You lead me on with your sweet act but we all know that was bull honkey!" growled the strawberry racer.

The two girls glared at each other; they both knew it. Their friendship was over. There was no more time for talk, no more time for questions. All the pieces of the puzzle had been put together and everything fit.

Vanellope had been using Taffyta.

Taffyta had been using Vanellope.

They weren't friends; they were PROPS.

The split had begun and it would only spoil the world of Sugar Rush for both girls.

Vanellope marched off, heading back to her home in Diet Cola Mountain. The thoughts that were going through her head were quite the opposite that had been there before. She no longer saw Taffyta and the others as friends but as rivals. No longer did she see Taffyta as someone to come to when she felt bad but someone to avoid.

No longer was Taffyta a person, but a bully.

Vanellope looked at the pictures she had collected over the years, the photos that she had taken with Taffyta throughout the various places in Sugar Rush. She looked at those photos…and chucked them right into the pits of Diet Cola Mountain.

Taffyta made her way back to her cottage, anger the only thing she could see. She looked at all the photos she had taken with Vanellope.

That smile. That self-righteous, sneer.

She couldn't take it anymore.

She took her crutch and hit the pictures from the wall, screaming out in frustration as she did so.

No longer did she see Vanellope as a friend, no longer did she see Vanellope as the only person who understood her, no longer did she see Vanellope as a person with an open heart.

She just saw a back-stabbing GLITCH.

Taffyta gathered up all the photos and gifts she had of Vanellope and threw them in the trash.

* * *

"Ith so SAD what the truth can do when it gets out…" King Candy sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror "But if we don't hear tha truth, we remain ignorant to the facts."

The man stood, walking around his giant bed room. With a sigh, he threw himself on the bed, bouncing a bit on the springs.

"But maybe, ith-s better that things stay that way…I mean, if things were ta get out, just how WOULD those kids think?"

The king sat up, going to his dresser from which he pulled out the screenshots he had taken of the security video but beside them?

Heart sprinkles.

Gummie bears.

Peppermints.

People were familiar that Vanellope wore them in her hair but what was King Candy doing with them? The man then got up, walking over to his closet.

"Gotta make sure I have my royal suit ready for tomorrow! Wouldn't want ta look a messth in front of my thubjects!"

As the man went through his collection of outfits, another familiar sight fell to his feet.

A teal hoodie, some tights, and a double layer skirts.

Evidence.

HARD EVIDENCE.

The king sneered, a chuckle coming from his throat "Yes, ignorance. I don't know how far I would get without it!"

* * *

GCS was pitch black as a figure crept his way through the empty halls. A pin could have dropped and it would have been the only sound heard. The figure continued its trek through the halls, ducking here and there to make sure it couldn't be seen.

"Don't mind me…." The figure hissed "I'm just a widdle blob 'o pixel goin' out for a walk."

The figure stopped in front of the entrance to a game; Sugar Rush.

There is was. It was open and waiting for him.

Wait. They couldn't go just yet! There was still a catch.

"So, it took ya long enough…" a voice rang through the darkness. The figure shivered as it turned, seeing someone hiding in the corner.

"S-sorry. I was startin' ta get a lil worried."

"Ya should have known better…" the figure replied, her voice deep "I would never leave ya out here alone like this."

"Thaffyta…." The figure cooed "I wouldn't expect less from my FAVORITE RACER."

Taffyta stepped from the corner, her arms crossed and a lollipop planted between her teeth.

"An' I woudn't expect less from the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten -Truth

"What did ya wanna see us for, Taff?" asked Rancis as he made his way towards the girl.

"Yeah, ya called us out of the blue like tha game had caught on fire or somethin'!" panted Swizz, having run all the way from his house.

Taffyta didn't say a word. She just glared at her friends as they gathered around her. This was all so similar to when she had called them to her only days before but this time, things were much more serious.

"Guys….we need to talk about Vanellope."

"Um, sure. But what else can ya say about her that we don't already know?" asked Snowanna.

Taffyta removed her cap, a serious look about her "Ya know all that stuff I told ya guys before? About how I thought I might have been wrong with my first feelings? That I stalled and wanted to just give her another chance?"

"Y-Yes, we remember that.." Adorabeezle said in a meek tone.

"Forget everything I said about givin' her a second chance! She DESERVES no more chances!" the strawberry race shouted, rage in her eyes.

"Whoa! Why the sudden change?"

"Because I know the true intentions of that GLITCH." The racer growled, her hands balled into fist "She was usin' us all but most of all, she was plannin' on icin' me first!"

Crumbellina gasped in shock "So she DID cause your crash?! That's AWFUL!"

"Awful? AWFUL doesn't even begin to cover it!" the racer then turned, eyeing each of her friends "If she hadn't gotten close to me, it could have been ANY of ya guys an' YOU could have ended up in a wreck! Well, NO MORE!"

"In that case, what do ya want us ta do?" asked Candlehead, scratching her head.

"IF we even SEE her come near us, I want ya guys to remind her WHO the real racers are an' who is just a GLITCH." Taffyta hissed "I don't care about her stupid lil pitty party she tries to pull on us. Tha moment she tries to take US out just to fulfill her stupid, selfish goals is the moment she goes too far!"

The others looked at each other, completely shocked that Taffyta would suggest such tactics against the girl.

"B-but what about King Candy? What will he say if he sees us doin' that?"

"I"ve had a talk with the King…an' from what he told me, he said to protect ourselves with any means necessary! He's SICK of the GLITCH and how's she's been treatin' us!"

The strawberry race could tell that the others were a little unsure on whether or not to follow her but as she looked down at the others, Taffyta couldn't help hurt but worry. What if something DID happen to them? She just couldn't allow it!

"Look guys, I know it sounds TOUGH but that's how ya hafta act when someone like Vanellope plays ya like she did ta ME! She took stuff from us ALL an' are we just gonna let that happen?!"

"No!" the others cried, angry looks coming on their faces.

"Are we gonna let some GLITCH get her way, after the rest of us have had to work HARD to get where we are?!"

"NO!"

"ARE WE GONNA LET VANELLOPE DESTROY OUR GAME AN' USE US AGAIN?!"

"NO!"

At that moment, everything had been set into stone.

At that moment, Vanellope had lost any and all connection she had with her former friends.

And a certain candy monarch couldn't have had it any other way.

He looked from his window as his 'children' began to start their hate for the child, their words of vitrol and anger playing out to him like music.

"Wonderful…." The man said, chuckling to himself "An' I didn't even hafta lift a FINGER!"

* * *

"Turbo?" asked Taffyta "Lemme ask ya a question?"

"Yes?"

"Why did ya wanna come back ta Sugar Rush?" the girl asked, leading the man through the game in the dark of the night.

"Call it nostalgia…" the man chuckled "But I have other reason as to why I wanted to come back here…."

"Oh? And what would those be?" asked the girl, giving Turbo an interested look.

"I just wanted to get one last look at Vanellope before I said good bye!"

"Good bye!" the racer said in shock, turning towards the man "Y-you mean you're LEAVING?!"

Turbo gave the girl a soft smile "S-sorry kid but….it just has to be that way!"

"Turbo, NO!" Taffyta cried "Ya just got outta prison, I managed to get you back into the game an'-! Urgh, NO! I can't let ya leave!"

"Kid, the fact that I BROKE OUTTA jail is the reason SOMEONE has ta leave!" Turbo said, pushing Taffyta away gently "I mean, I'm surprised the Hero's Duty flunkies aren't even lookin' for me yet! It's dangerous to be out right now!"

"Look! You can hide in my place! Or…or maybe we can build ya another cottage in the far woods! I mean, it's not THAT difficult to program!"

Again, Turbo smiled at the girl, seemingly touched by her kindness towards him.

"Kid, if there's one thing that I've always loved about ya, its tha fa-th ya always stood by me, even when things looked BLEAK."

"Why wouldn't I?" Taffyta grinned "You ARE the rightful ruler of this game! Not that GLITCH!"

The former racer suddenly scooped Taffyta into a hug, holding her so tight that he lifted her off the ground.

"W-why am I always given such kind people?" the man said in a whisper "Maybe I am lucky…"

Taffyta hugged the man back, a huge smile forming on her face "No, I'm the lucky one!"

Turbo sighed, gripping the girl harder in his clutches.

"Yes…so lucky. So, SO lucky. But darlin'?"

"Yes, sir?" the girl asked, pulling away from the hug to look Turbo eye to eye.

"I hate ta inform ya, but your luck is about ta change…"

And with that, Turbo HURLED Taffyta into a peppermint tree, the girl crying out in horrid pain once she hit the hard surface, sliding down to the ground. She sat dazed on the dirt for a moment or two but she could clearly see Turbo marching up to her, an evil sneer on his face and his eyes glowing yellow.

That horrid, HORRID glow.

Taffyta let out a few whimpers as she scooted back, horrified at what she was looking at "T-Turbo! W-what-?!"

"Aw, cut the corn KID!" the racer snarled as he glared down at the girl "I'm SICK of your snifflin'!"

What was happening? Only moments before, things were going so well between both racers but now it seemed that everything had turned and they had turned for the worst! Taffyta staggered to her feet, an angry look coming about her face.

"I-I was just tryin' ta be nice, that's all! Ya didn't hafata throw me like-!"

SLAP!

Turbo's hand met with Taffyta's cheek, the force so powerful that the girl once again found herself falling to the ground, the slap still stinging.

"Stupid brat…" the man chuckled "I'm glad that ya retained SOME brown nosin' of me in that thick skull of yours, otherwise I would have NEVER been able to get out!"

Tears were rolling down Taffyta's cheeks, the girl's mascara bleeding horribly "W-what?! But I thought-!"

"Ya thought WHAT?" the man roared, picking the girl up by her neck "Ya really thought that I would open up ta ya brats?! PAH-LEEEEZE! The moment I confess anythin' is the moment I give up racin' COMPLETELY!"

The look of Taffyta's face was unlike that of a person who had their heart ripped away from her. The news was just too much! "S-So ya did lie!"

"An' you're shocked?" Turbo laughed smugly, rolling his eyes "Seriously, ya guys are WAAAY too forgivin'!"

"B-But what about keepin' us safe?! What about ME?! What about-?!"

"Yeah, 'bout that!" Turbo said, sitting Taffyta down roughly on a cookie log, joining her a second later "Ya see kid, I was tryin' ta keep somethin' safe in this stupid game while I was in charge…."

Turbo shoved his face closer to Taffyta's, the girl's eyes shrinking down to pinpoints.

"ME!" with another laugh, Turbo tossed Taffyta to the ground, his boot planted on her back "See, I KNEW if I didn't lock up your pathetic minds, you would come runnin' ta me ta kick my butt the moment I made your bratty friend a glitch! It SUCKED that pullin' the wires didn't accomplish what I really wanted, but HEY! Ya take what ya can get!"

"Y-ya mean ta tell me ya DID plan on deletin' her!"

"No DUH!" Turbo mocked "Seriously, ya think I would have beaten tha SNOT outta people for that stupid code for nothin'? But oh! It didn't stop there! I KNEW that ya wimps would be sympathetic to Vanellope so I had ta find a way ta turn ya AGAINST each other!"

Turbo cracked his neck as he looked back down at Taffya, his foot pressing into her as if she were some sort of bug "A lie here, a lie there. All done ta make sure King Candy would REIGN SUPREME!"

Taffyta gritted her teeth painfully, trying to roll over "F-figures ya had somethin' ta do with that crash!"

"Ah-HUH!" the man laughed "All done by ME, all FOR me! I mean, it was SO MUCH FUN watchin' ya crash so long ago! An' plantin' the eveidence on Vanellope? Heh, it's so wonderful how much a few stray pieces of candy an' dressin' up as tha lil creep can do!"

"I-I wondered why Vanellope looked a t-tad too tall in that video!" The girl growled, pushing back Turbo "BUT WHY?! WHY US?! There were TONS of games ya could have gone too! Why US?!"

"Why? Because ya were EASY." Turbo frowned "Because ya guys are a buncha lil BRATS who don't DESERVE all this love an' recognition! You're just like Road Blasters! A'buncha UPSTARTS who deserved gettin' unplugged! It's just a shame that ya guys didn't fall as hard as they did!"

By now, tears were STREAMING down Taffyta's face; from the looks of it, the girl was beside herself in pain and grief. Once again, it appeared that she had been lied to and she had once again let Turbo lead her down the path of destruction and what made it even worse was how EASY it was for him to do it.

All he had to do was lay on a few pity stories, a few lies, a few puppy dog eyes and the girl fell for it.

But worst of all was the simple fact that she had released him back into Sugar Rush and if he got away….

Oh programmers, who KNEW what he could do!

Turbo raised his foot off the girl, allowing her to sit up "If anything, I have ta thank ya, sweetie."

The girl coughed, trying to clear her throat "A-an' why is that?!"

"Had it not been for your listenin' ear, I never would have gotten this far an' as I said, someone has ta leave…."

The man bent down again, taking Taffyta by her collar and lifting her off the ground.

"BUT IT AIN'T ME!"

And with those final words, Turbo HURLED Taffya into a taffy pool, the girl crying out in horror as she flailed about, sinking into the muck.

"H-HELP ME! SOMEONE! PLEASE!"

"Aw, wish I could do so sweetie!" the man cackled "But I have a date with a GLITCH!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven- Game Over

It didn't take long for Turbo to make his way to the candy palace, the bright glow of the building filling the night air with a heavenly glow.

How Turbo HATED it.

He hated it because he knew somewhere inside there was a girl, a girl that had taken away all his glory, all his power, all his love from him.

But no more.

Things would be different.

This time, he would finally be able to delete Vanellope once and for all, leaving everyone in the arcade to suffer with her absence.

"I might not be able to get control of this PIT again…." The man cackled to himself "But at least I can scratch ONE annoyance of my list."

Turbo ducked in the bushes as he watched people coming to and from the palace.

"Come on ya lil cavity, where are ya?!"

Ah-hah!

In the dark, Turbo spied a familiar form exiting the palace, Vanellope waving a good bye to someone as she began to walk her way towards the woods.

"Hmmm, what's tha kid doin' out THIS late at night?" Turbo thought to himself "Urgh, who cares! I gotta-!"

The man stopped; Vanellope was walking on the path that lead towards him.

He just couldn't resist this chance! He had to show that glitch a thing or two before he deleted her!

"Yeees…." The cackled to himself "Why let Thaffyta have all the pain before the grand exit?"

This was one beat-down Turbo was ready for.

He slithered through the bushes like a snake ready to strike, watching Vanellope as she strolled down the dark path without even so much as a thought. If only she knew the danger she was in, if only she knew that someone close by was watching her, intent on causing her demise.

"Let's see how far your GLITCHIN' take ya now!" the man whispered, grabbing hold of a lose chocolate stick.

Vanellope stopped, almost as if she could hear something from afar.

Nothing.

Silence.

She continued walking, although she did so slowly.

Turbo crept closer, and closer, and closer.

Then-!

"GOTCHA!"

The man jumped from the bushes, kicking Vanellope in the back, the girl letting out a cry as she fell to the ground.

"Hahahah! GET UP! GET UP YOU WASTE OF SPACE!" Turbo bellowed in fury.

Vanellope made a small peek at the man, wasting no time in scrambling to her feet and running like heck through the woods! Turbo followed, his mind set on getting his revenge on the girl who he believed had caused him so much pain.

"COME BACK HERE! COME BACK HERE NOW!"

It was now the hunter going after the hunted, Vanellope not even looking back as Turbo began to gain on her. The two made their way back to the taffy lake where Taffyta had taken her spill, seemingly lost in the depths of the muck.

"Ya think ya can get away with all that you've done ta me?!" the man screamed "THINK AGAIN!"

He then threw the stick at Vanellope, getting a lucky shot and knocking her on the ground. The girl remained silent, staggering to her feet with her head still towards the ground. Turbo was enjoying EVERY moment of this, the sight of seeing Vanellope in pain more wonderful to him than all the racing trophies he had ever won both as himself and King Candy.

"Ya know what I'm gonna do?" the man cackled "At first I was gonna just delete ya but I've changed my mind! I'm gonna take ya back ta MY castle an' delete your lil pals, one by one by one!"

Turbo put his foot on Vanellope's back, the girl grunting.

"Yeeeeah, how does THAT sound, GLITCH? Watchin' all your stupid racin' buddies burn to their very core while ya watch? It sounds SOOOO GOOD ta me! An' then I'm gonna get that Thaffyta an' make sure she suffers tha most of all….."

The man chuckled, taking off his helmet "It's a pity that tha girl went from bein' my best toadie back ta your best friend! Heh, I mean, watchin' ya two before I took over? It made me SICK ta see how much fun ya were havin' but ta see her turn against ya, all thanks ta me? I wouldn't have had it ANY. OTHER. WAY!"

The gray racer turned, seeing a large candy stick, thorns of sugar sticking out of it.

Yes, this would be perfect.

He yanked the thing from the ground, raising it above his head.

"So, have anythin' ya wanna say before we get TH-ARTED?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I DO!" rang the voice of….VANELLOPE?

Turbo let out a gasp as he looked to his side, "WHAT?!"

BAM!

Before he could even move, Turbo saw a glitching light and a BOOT fly right into his face, the boot still on the foot of one Vanellope Von Schweetz! The man let out a pained cry as he fell to the ground, Vanellope landing aside him, an angry look on her face.

"Got anything else ya wanna say?!"

Turbo looked stunned; TWO VANELLOPES? What was going on?!

"W-what!? But-?!"

The Vanellope on the ground began to rise, her long hair still over her face but as she moved, two eyes glared at Turbo, looking just as angry as Vanellope.

"Thanks Nougelstia, I MORE than owe ya one for all those hits ya took!" the raven hair racer said.

NOUGELSTIA?!

"Heh, not a prob Nelly!" the racer said, pulling her LONG dark blue hair from her face "It DOES help that we look the same in the dark, DON'T we TURBO?"

Turbo's jaw nearly fell to the ground. He had been tricked not only by Vanellope but by another racer as well?! How could this be possible?! His face turning red in anger, the man sprang to his feet, his hands aiming for Vanellope's neck.

"You lil monster I'll-!"

"Oh DROP it, Turbz!" called another familiar voice from afar. Turbo turned and there before him, surrounded by Hero's Duty soilders was….

Taffyta Muttonfudge.

"B-But-?!"

The girl pulled the last bit of taffy from her arm, chewing it rather smugly in front of the man "Ya know, I CAN swim through taffy. It's a little sticky, but I can make it."

Turbo's mind was more than scrambled at this point. He was SURE he had the girl in his grip, he was SURE he had left her to drown in taffy!

HE WAS SURE OF EVERYTHING!

"D-didn't I leave ya cryin'!? I mean-I said-! You were-!"

"OooOOooooOh Turbo! Why do ya HAFTA be so meeeaAAAnnn!" the girl mocked, rubbing her eyes as he made a fake pout "While I admit that getting' bit smacked by ya did hurt, I'm surprised that my actin' fooled ya THAT much!"

Acting?

The sudden realization of what was going on hit Turbo with the force of a brick to the face; the entire time he thought he was playing Taffyta right into his hands but as things were starting to unfold, it turned out that it was the complete opposite.

"H-How did you-?"

Taffyta gave Calhoun a nod, as if to signal her that things were safe and there was no need to fear Turbo anymore. With that, the racer approached the man, no sign of fear in her eyes whatsoever.

"The moment ya started flapping your gums, I knew somethin' was up an' I will admit, what ya said was pretty convincing for a while, at least to someone who HADN'T been in Sugar Rush all their lives…" the girl said, flipping her bangs out of her eyes "But c'mon Turbo. You forgot the space of time that everyone was together BEFORE ya came inta the picture! You're memory lock might have blocked that out while ya were king, but don't ya think it would have come back once the game reset?"

Turbo was starting to turn pale as he realized the plan was coming apart around him; there was no place for him to run and he was at Taffyta's mercy.

"On top of that…there was THIS."

The girl approached the man, showing him a picture from the game's first year. In it were two racers, Vanellope and Taffyta, but it wasn't just the fact that they were together that was so important. It was what Taffyta was wearing on her coat that was so important.

"Durin' my time in the hospital after my accident, I gotta present from Nelly; a lil strawberry pin. At the time, I thought nothin' of it an' when things went back to normal, I actually thought it was somethin' she had just given to me at that time. But as I went through the archives, I found it again in that picture BEFORE ya took over an' then it hit me!"

"W-what hit ya?" Turbo stammered, an angry look on his face.

"I ACTUALLY got that pin from Nelly when the game WAS FIRST PLUGGED IN. THAT'S why I was wearin' it in that picture. I don't know HOW it got back into her possession after you hurt her code, but the fact that she gave it back when I was hurt? It was if that tiny sliver of a memory had come through an' she remembered how IMPORTANT that small pin was to BOTH of us."

Taffyta turned, her hands in the pockets of her dress, "Ya tried, Turbo. Ya really did try but nothing can cover up the truth. Everyone here was together the moment we were plugged in an' Nelly never took her role as PRINCESS seriously from the get go. All this talk about how she ruled over us? It was a lie but I played the part of the listenin' ear just to see how far ya would go. Tha fact ya would still try ta hurt us? Wow, low blow Turbo. LOW, FREAKIN' BLOW."

Turbo fell to his knees, unable to even stand hearing the girl tell him the holes in his plans. He thought he had everything worked out, he thought he had Taffyta roped in once more but as it was revealed, she never believed him from the start and her weak act, it was just a lie!

"A-An' Hero's Duty?! How did they know-!?"

"Easy!" grinned Vanellope "I'm sure ya heard our lil arguments out in the hall right? Pfft, that was a play too! We just wanted ya ta think that you're butt-fart lies had gotten to us an' ya were right about how I was somehow 'the bad guy' in all of this!"

"The kids informed me of what you were doin' after Taffyta found the picture." Calhoun said, aiming her gun right for Turbo "I was the one who gave her the key an' the rest? Well, we played it out all the way an' knowin' how one-tracked minded ya were, we knew you'd come back here!"

Turbo was seething in rage, wanting nothing more than to jump on everyone and tear them limb from limb! How DARE they do this to him! How dare they play him like a puppet!

"The best part is? Your whole confession made it out on tape too!" Taffyta grinned, pulling a voice recorder from behind her "Words don't lie Tur-BUTT but I find it ironic that it took a shorter amount of time to tell us WHY and how you got this game than your lie! I mean SHEESH! I was nearly fallin' asleep at your prattlin'!"

"S-so you're tellin' me that ya got through MY lie…WITH ANOTHER LIE?!"

"Ya could say that." Vanellope giggled brightly "Or, ya could say we owned ya like a SHARK!"

Unable to contain his anger any longer, Turbo sprang on Taffyta, his eyes filled with fury.

"YOU FREAKIN' MINX! I'M GONNA-!"

GLITCH!

In that split second, Vanellope appeared side-by-side Taffyta and as both drew back their legs….

And KICKED Turbo right in the face, sending the man flying back on his bottom where he belonged!

"Wow! Nice job, girls!" Markowski whistled.

Turbo groaned in pain, his eyes filled with stars. He then heard the heavy clanking of Hero's Duty armor coming towards him and he quickly tried to get to his feet.

"H-Hold on! I-!"

"We've heard it all before, TURBO! Now get him outta here!" ordered Calhoun, her men carrying the disgraced racer off. Once the group made their way back towards the rainbow bridge, Calhoun couldn't help but laugh.

"Ya know, even I hafta admit you guys had me worried before ya told me what was goin' on!"

"Was my actin' THAT convincing?" Taffyta asked, a little stunned.

"Kid, there were times when I thought ya would just break into tears when ya ENTERED the same room as Turbo! How could that not convince me?!"

"Heh, what can I say? Nothin' beats Muttonfudge!"

"Oh PLEASE!" Vanellope laughed, pulling the racer's hat over her eyes "Let's see ya keep this same type of determination on the race track, MISSY!"

"Pa-SHAW! I ALWAYS show off my best when I race!" Taffyta said haughtily.

"From the way you've been slackin', I hafta beg ta differ!"

"Oh, yeah?!" said an annoyed Muttonfudge.

"YEAH!" said a cheeky Von Schweetz.

"Midnight race! You an' me! NOW!" the strawberry racer grinned.

"Bring it on, Blondie!" Vanellope cackled, taking off for the track.

Nougelstia sighed as she shook her head "An' here I thought I was gonna get those fifty coins Nelly promised for taking this job." The girl shook her head as she quickly tied her hair back into a pig tail, walking back down the trail "Aw well, I think a few FRIENDLY reminders should do the job…"

Calhoun couldn't help but smile as she watched the kids make their way back to the village, happy to see that things hadn't been destroyed as she had previously feared. Turning back towards the entrance, a thought came to her mind.

"Heh, guess Felix was right! These kids are a bit sharper than we make 'em out ta be!"

* * *

"Ya know, this isn't the end!" Turbo growled as he was being dragged back to Hero's Duty.

"Yeah, yeah. We've heard the story before…" Mouse yawned, not at all impressed with the man "Now shut up an' get back into your cell. I wanna go to bed."

"Hehe, I-I can work my way through ya people! To-tonight was just a FLUKE! A FLUKE! Muttonfudge would have been MINE if I had waited a bit longer!" the man cackled, his mind clearly over the edge now "I swear, I'm gonna get all the games in this place! EVERY GAME! ITS GONNA BE MINE!"

"So how long before he calms down?" asked a solider.

"Meh, give him a few days….he should shut up by then."

Turbo continued to rant and rave as he was dragged off but suddenly, the man stopped, a look of fear coming on his face.

"OH! OH! STOP!"

"What are you getting on about now?!" growled Markowski, not in the mood for anymore madness.

"SHE'S BACK! SHE'S BAACCK!"

"Who's BACK!?"

Turbo tore his arm away from a beefy solider, pointing towards one of the dark hallways of the station.

"HER! THE VIRUS! SHE'S BACK!" the man cried, his eyes full of fear and madness "S-SHE'S IN THE CORNER! BACK THERE! BACK THERE!"

Mouse looked up at Markowski, carefully moving over towards the corner where Turbo was pointing. The solider held out her gun, ready at a moment's notice but as she was quick to discover, there was nothing there. The woman turned, giving Turbo a peeved look.

"Nice try BOY, but ya ain't trickin' anyone else tonight."

"B-BUT I'M SERIOUS! SHE'S-!"

Mouse's fist met with Turbo's jaw, knocking the man out cold.

"Get him back before the Sarge arrives! We don't need any more drama for tonight!"

And with that the group lead Turbo back into his prison cell, the man's cries head by no one.

"What a pity…." Cooed a voice from afar "For once, the man tells the truth an' no one believes him."

In the silence of the empty station, a figure stepped from the darkness, a cold smile on her face.

"But maybe that's for the better…" she snickered, licking her lips "I DO like to take my victims by surprise!"

While everyone was safe from one threat in the arcade, it would only be a matter of time before another would come in its place.

And unlike Turbo, this threat was much MORE malicious.


End file.
